


The Shepards

by Vf_Blitz



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Amnesia, Attempt at Humor, Dark Past, Fear, M/M, Mass Effect 1, Nightmares, Paragon Commander Shepard, Renegon (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 03:22:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1065170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vf_Blitz/pseuds/Vf_Blitz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I hate you like a rival, but love you like a brother. Treat me like anything else and I swear I will shoot you."</p><p>Back before the reapers came his ancestors. They got tangled in events that would collide past with future. A child of the past with the future's hero are teamed together, but will the two work out as friends or family?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoy this! Please note that there are mistakes that I'm trying to fix (Darn you Microsoft Word! *Shakes fists) so please just cope with it. Also new chapters may be choppy due to it being an on and off thing recently. I do plan on revising those when I manage the time to do so.

The Catalyst

_I stare at the two bodies in front of me. Lifeless is what they are. Terror engraved on their faces. Eyes wide and mouth open. Behind a man in a lab coat stands. His shoulder is turning a bright crimson. Exactly like the liquid on the floor. I try to speak, but only partial words escape and tears come from my eyes. Some land in my mouth and make me taste the bitterness. The lab coat man simply gives me a tight hug before pushing me into a large canister. He hands me a backpack full of random bits and pieces of junk. A smile appears on his face. I still see it as the front closes. A small window allows me to see out._

_I just wish I wasn’t so stupid. More people dressed like the dead bodies appear. One man stands in front of them and aim right at us. His mouth moves, but I can’t hear anything. The guy in the lab coat quickly moves, but is shot. Blood splatters on the window and I back up in fear. The canister moves and starts throwing me around like a rag doll. Something collides with the back of my skull. The tossing and turning stops. There is a hissing sound and my body floats around I wonder if I'm dead, but can feel the air growing cold. Through the red on the window I see an explosion in the distance. After that it just becomes dark and cold. So cold… so dark…_

~/~

Ship Sweet Ship

Commander Shepard, XO of the SSV Normandy, sits calmly in the mess hall. He is simply doing usual business for the Alliance as always. Flipping back and forth from data pad to data pad with no breaks in between. His somewhat short dark hair is somehow neatly flat despite the fact he has neglected it. Blue eyes scan the data pads and across the table. The crew often jokes about him needing an actual area on the ship just to do his work.  Mainly due to the fact they have to sit and eat while Shepard works. This causes an awkward tension to arise in the social environment, but it can be defused easily. Shepard does his part to the crew, but only talks to a selected few.

“Shepard, you have to take a break.” The Lieutenant biotic approaches with two cups of coffee in hand. He has to manually remove the current data pad from Shepard’s hands to get him to stop. The Commander's hand continues moving for a few seconds before he exits his little trance.

“Listen, Alenko, I appreciate you looking out for my health, but I need to work.”

“Dr. Chakwas and I both agreed you’ve been under a massive amount of stress. I am generally free so I _have_ to look out for you.” The Commander opens his mouth to speak, but admits defeat. He simply takes the coffee and drinks it. Slightly surprised by an added feature to it.

“Cinnamon?”

“I’ve had to get you coffee before. Don’t think I wouldn’t remember.”

“No whip cream?”

“Don’t push it, Commander.” Shepard merely chuckles and continues with his break. Though occasionally flipping through the device in front of him. Kaidan ends up snatching it and moving it to the side. Once again Shepard admits defeat.

“You know you could just call me Shepard.”

“Hm?”

“Call me Shepard. _Commander_ sounds too formal.”

“Ok, Commander.” Kaidan realizes his mistake and Shepard simply raises an eyebrow.

“ _Shepard_ , Alenko.”

“Right. Sorry, Commander.” Kaidan’s face turns slightly red as he messes up once again. Shepard just smiles. _“He’ll get it… eventually”_ Shepard simply keeps the thought to himself.

“You’re not the best at this are you?” Shepard smiles as he stands up and moves towards the small kitchen area. Quickly putting his mug to wash and then quickly walking away.

“I should go.” Alenko blurts out as he rushes up to the CIC of the Normandy. Shepard smiles once more. _“That’s my line, Kaidan.”_

~/~

“Oh, ho ho! Someone is in a _Sheppy_ mood!” The helmsman turns in his seat as Alenko makes his way to the co-pilot spot. He simply ignores the remark and continues his duties. Though the sudden shift in color on his face says otherwise. “So what was it this time? A book gift? A massage? Cinnamon coffee?”  A loud bang can be heard as soon as he finishes. Kaidan didn’t mean to hit anything. He just simply jolted at the fact he was watching the whole thing. 

“Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Oh sure! Let me just turn off auto pilot and fly circles around Earth! No wait. I’ll just go dancing.” The helmsman shifts in his chair and thinks for a second. “On second thought. No dancing. I’d probably break every bone from my heel to pelvis.”

“Thanks for the idea, Joker.”

“I’ll play possum if I have to! You ain’t getting this cripples to giggle and wiggle.”

“Uh-huh.” Alenko simply smiles as he imagines ways to black mail Joker into dancing. Top three ways are getting him drunk, finding a female robot, or planning a party. _“I don’t think he’ll be easy to get drunk. I don’t even want to know how I’ll manage with the robot or party.”_

“Huh? What? Did you say something, K?”

“No.” Ideas pour into his mind and he does his best to conceal his smile. However, the Lieutenant simply brushes it off and saves black mailing Joker for another time.

~/~

“Shepard, you here?” A man dressed in navy blues comes down to the mess hall. With an obvious intention to find Shepard.

“Ughhh...” A loud grown comes from the table. The man in blues finds Shepard face flat against a data pad.

“How long have you been down here, son?”

“Eight hours?” Shepard gives his answer, but it’s obvious he doesn’t know and it has been longer than that.

“Shepard, get some rest. We have a new assignment and we’re to receive the information in a few hours.”

“I’ve got work to do, Anderson.” Shepard groans while Anderson motions towards his wrist. A holographic item appears and he scrolls through it with ease.

“You’re nine days ahead of work, Shepard.”

“I… wait what?”

“You have free time! Now go to your bed and get some sleep. That’s an order!” Shepard clenches his head as Anderson yells. The lack of sleep seem to make Shepard's head throb.

“Go to Dr.Chakwas first and get something to help you sleep first. You’ll need it.” The Commander slowly moves towards the med bay while the Captain takes care of the mess left behind. Turning off each data pad to recharge and placing the objects back to the original shelves. As the last device is about to turn off something catches Anderson’s eye.

_Reports of a S.O.S appear to be signaled throughout Citadel space. However all attempts to find the source have failed. Estimated guess is the signal is back tracking onto other channels and reappearing in a different location. However, similar reports to an unknown escape capsule have been reported along with a large meteor field heading towards the Citadel. All attempts to retrieve the capsule have failed. These two reports may or may not be connected. Estimated time until collision is 5 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes, 18 second in counting._

Anderson scrolls through the report some more, but finds more failed attempts and how a turian cruiser nearly collided with a planetoid while attempting to retrieve the capsule. _“If the Turians had difficulty than it really must be harder than it seems just to rescue this person.”_

~/~

Everyone was asleep by now. Shifts changes and Alenko was able to go to sleep now. When it was nice and quiet he left the bunk room and went to the bathroom. This time would be considered the night shift. A few people stayed up, like Anderson and Joker, while most of the crew was asleep.

Kaidan whistles in the shower and it was a powerful whistle. This could possibly be heard from a few blocks away on a busy city street. Good thing he was good at it too. Also he was shy and didn’t like being in the bathroom while people are awake. Fear of someone walking in. However, the second fear would come true. Kaidan had forgotten a change of clothes.

Shepard went to sleep early so he was somewhat awake, despite the medicine Dr. Chakwas gave him. He shifted a few times as he searched for a comfortable position. He fiddled with his dark black hair in boredom until he finally got up to get a drink.

At the same time Kaidan was slowly stepping out of the shower, drenched and only having a small towel that covered his waist, but only just above his knees. He was cursing about how small standard Alliance towels are. His freshly washed feet made a slapping sound as it touched the freezing metal floor. How he _really_ wished he hadn’t forgotten his clothes.

Now the two were right in the middle of the hall way. Both trying to stay silent as possible and unable to see correctly in the dimmed lighting. Then all that is heard is a loud thud, smack, and another thud. Shepard tries to get up, but slips on the now wet flooring and back onto Alenko. The two still don’t know who is who. Slowly the lights brighten and the reveal is surprised to the two.

“SH-Shepard?”

“Alenko?” Shepard jolts up, but falls again. His knee pulled at Kaidan’s towel, but Alenko reacts and pulls it back up before it can get any lower. Slowly the two back away from each other.

“What are you doing out here?” The two of them try to yell, but remain quiet as to the fact their comrades are in the other room. Kaidan gets up and securely tucks his towel. Shepard stands and tries to act natural. However he’s only wearing Alliance issue boxer briefs and his N7 hoodie, unzipped.

“I was going to get a drink!”

“I was going to get clothes!” The two speak at the same time. Kaidan’s cheeks flush different shades of red. Shepard’s neck starts to heat up and itch. The two ignore it. They both go to different sides of the hall way and pass each other. No words are given.

However, Kaidan turns and examines the Commander in the unique attire. Shepard was resisting looking anywhere below the waist on Alenko. He failed when he tried to look only at his face.

Now Shepard was drinking cup after cup of cold water and was trying to defeat this burning sensation. Nothing was working so he went into the med bay. Dr. Chakwas was sleeping, but he knows where the sleeping pills are.

Kaidan changed quickly into long pajama pants and a tight t-shirt. His face turned brighter as he held up his issue of Alliance boxer briefs. Now he simply lies on his bed and tries to sleep. Joker suddenly calls him and Kaidan puts the call to private. This prevents someone from waking up.

“Shower towel collision? Really, K?”

“Shut. Up. Moreau.”

“It’s just… really? I replayed it and saw it was an accident, but really?”

“I will kill you, Joker.”

“Ya-ya. Get some sleep lover boy.” Kaidan simply stared off into space after that call. Knowing Joker wasn’t making fun of him or anything. He just knew what Kaidan missed out. Though he still wasn’t entirely sure on what the Commander prefers. Alenko just grabbed his pillow and hugged it to death.

The door opened a few minutes later and a bounce came from under Kaidan’s bunk. Shepard was back. Nothing was said. Though a tap came suddenly and he felt two roundish pills fall into his hand. By the feel of it the pills were what Shepard takes to sleep. Kaidan suppressed a smile and took the pills. Didn’t take long until he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Capsule of Hades

A few days after the nightly incident the two men encounter each other again at the Normandy’s armory. They’ve been avoiding each other for some time and as a result has been strenuous for both. Alenko has barely talked to anyone. Even Joker. Shepard simply drowned himself in work again. Dr. Chakwas has become worried about his health once more, and Kaidan is conflicted to weather to help or avoid the Commander.

“Alenko.” The Commander gives a slight nod to the Lieutenant as he straps on his gear and adjusts his armor. Kaidan does the same, but at a slight distance from the Commander.

“Commander.” Right then Shepard dropped his chest plate and grabbed onto the table. Licking his lips with wondering eyes he finally speaks.

“Listen, we need to talk.”

“Its fine, Commander, just a misunderstanding. Nothing more.” He adverted his eyes and looked towards the kinetic field. The capsule was beat up with dents and helplessly wondered. His cuffs weren’t connecting and he kept repeating the same process.

“Nothing more? I’ve been drowning myself in work because I couldn’t think of anything to say to you. I have never been in a situation like this and you clearly don’t want to be near me.” The Commander practically hissed at the Lieutenant. Alenko simply kept his eyes away from his. His words stung and hurt unlike anything he’s ever experienced. No words are said after that. This strikes a nerve at Shepard.

“Fine. If you don’t want to be near me than I can’t trust you. Go get someone else to do your job.” Shepard roughly grabbed the remaining bits of his armor and ditched the armory. Kaidan simply stood there and suppressed his tears. He was also angry, but understood Shepard’s sudden burst.

~/~

Anderson arrives and finds Shepard standing right against the kinetic barrier without his helmet. He shook his head as the reckless behavior and breach of safety protocol. Anderson simply marched towards the Commander and grabbed him to a safe distance from the danger zone.

“You a god damn fool, Shepard?”

“I was fine, Anderson.” He simply rubbed the arch of his nose and blew it off. No need to get so worked up.

“You sure Joker can keep the Normandy steady?”

 _“Yes, Shepard, I think I can clearly maneuver around those big asteroids in the distance.”_ Joker’s voice is heard over the loud speaker. His usual act of the Normandy’s helmsman was eavesdropping.

“Smartass…”

_“Huh?”_

“Nothing, Joker.” Shepard looked towards the speaker as if waiting for a reply, but there wasn’t anything. He then turned towards Anderson for his next orders.

“Anyway. You and Alenko are going to retrieve the capsule manually. If we tried to pull it in by a kinetic beam we’d probably pick up more than just an asteroid or two.” Shepard turns towards Alenko who was just sulking at the armory, but kept it hidden all too well.

“You sure he can handle it?”

“Would you rather go out there with nobody guiding you?” The Commander kept quiet as he stared at the Lieutenant. He was starting to feel regret for yelling at him. Also at the fact he might have just lost one of the few friends he’s actually managed to make.

~/~

The two men stepped at the edge of the cargo bay. Their tether’s firmly attached to their armor with boots to keep them firmly on the flooring. Through the corner of Shepard’s eye he could see Alenko’s face. Practically emotionless, but with a hint of sadness. And did that do a deal on Shepard. He was not only feeling like a jerk to Kaidan. He felt downright like an asshole.

“Hey…” Kaidan turned towards Shepard. Slightly surprised, but still not anywhere near his normal self.

“I know I can be an ass, but I just want to say I’m sorry. For everything.” His metal hand clanks against his helmet as if to rubbing the back of his neck. Kaidan doesn’t say anything, but a small smirk appears on his face as he nods.

Shepard gives a leap of faith out towards the capsule. Kaidan activates his biotics and motions his hand towards the Commander. His biotic aura surrounds him as he keeps a firm hold onto Shepard. With the help of biotics the Commander is able to easily navigate in the endless void. Once attaching himself to the capsule he gives a firm tug on the tether to signal for him to be reeled in.

Curiosity sparks his interest as he notices a familiar coloring on the sort of mirror of the capsule. A darkened red covered with white frost. Though seemingly old it’s easily noticeable to be red. Quickly scanning the capsule shows a few other things. Repeating dents show this has been struck by multiple times over a long period of time. In bold letters near the bottom show the words _‘Emergency’_ and _‘Cryo’_ all the other words have disappeared. This is strange.

“Shepard!” Kaidan’s voice alerts him as he notices a large meteor heading right for the Normandy.

“Joker, what the hell are you doing in there?”

 _“A big fucking piece of useless rock in heading our way, ok! Doing my best here!”_ Smaller pieces of meteor fly past Shepard. One narrowly grazing the capsule. Kaidan steps more and more towards the edge as he attempts to pull Shepard in. Both manually and with biotics. Chatter goes around on the omni comm. Shepard looks up and sees Kaidan with the occasional passing meteor. He then dares to look to his side and yells out.

“Kaidan, look out!” Right as he throws up a barrier around him, as a reflex, a meteor hits him directly. His body flies out the Normandy, but his tether saves him. However, the relief is short lived. His tether is starting to break and its possible Alenko is injured badly or his masked cracked. Without any thought Shepard abandons the capsule, but manages to connect his life saver to the capsule. With perfect timing he manages to grab hold of Alenko’s rope as it breaks completely.

The capsule fell into the cargo bay roughly, but it’s probably better than exploding in the asteroid field. Shepard manages to pull Kaidan in and notices the backup mask has activated on his helmet. Thus alerting him to the fact he’s losing oxygen.

~/~

“Alenko, wake up.” Shepard is kneeling down beside Kaidan. He had just rescued the Lieutenant from being lost in space and an asteroid field. Alenko lets out a groan and reaches for his head.

“Am I dead?” As he opens his eyes he sees Shepard’s pointer finger curled into a circle above his forehead. A hard flick is dealt.

“Are you dead? Seriously that’s the first thing you say?” Alenko rubs his forehead before standing up to Shepard. He tries to look intimidating, but he is a few inches shorter than the Commander and he even keeps a plain bored like face.

“What else you’d expect me to say? Jump up and down the halls and yell ‘Halleluiah I’m alive!’?” Shepard helps him up and then surprisingly gives the Lieutenant a hug.

“Glad to have you back on the Normandy, Alenko.” Kaidan rolls his eyes, but manages a smile. No one is paying attention, besides Joker due to his boredom, since the pod has been retrieved.

~/~

“I’m going to make a complaint to Hackett later. Nearly lost my whole ship!” Anderson grinds his teeth at the fact the recent mission was a massive gamble. He could have easily denied it. Though he didn’t. Greg Adams, the Chief Engineer, is currently working on opening the pod. Sadly he’s having little success despite having the more recently developed equipment.

“Anything?”

“Nah. This thing is packed tighter than any escape pod like I’ve seen. Plus it’s freezing cold. Whoever is in here is either dead or in cryo-statis.” Adams explains the simple basics of how the escapee could either be alive or dead. Though nothing I known until they open the capsule.

Kaidan is taken to med bay, but returns to see little progress is made. Hours pass and still nothing. Though studies of the exterior give off multiple clues. For example a closer study at the capsule’s S.O.S signal shows it’s outdated. Also the material made from the pod is pure titanium. This is extremely odd. One thing that causes curiosity is the blood on the window.

“This person could be dangerous, Anderson.”

“Or could be a survivor of a devastating event.” Anderson points out towards Shepard. He’s slightly struck with the remark and backs off.

“We may have the tools, but not the correct ones. Joker, plan a course for Earth.”

 _“Yes, sir, Captain, sir.”_ The Normandy quickly picks up and quickly vanishes as it goes straight into Faster than Light.

~/~

The Package Deal

The Normandy crew lands in Vancouver. Shore leave is granted to the crew due to problems from the last mission. Joker takes no responsibility and blames Shepard and Alenko because he simply had to make the shirt endure asteroid strikes. The kinetic barrier also is in need of repairs as well as the hull. Estimated time given for repairs is about four days.

While the crew quickly flee towards the roaring city some remains at home, in the Normandy, while repairs are made. For instance Anderson and Joker. Shepard had considered staying, but Anderson threatened to demote him to engineering for a whole month. For a soldier that would be a nightmare. Especially with Adams.

Now the Normandy was docked and Shepard simply watched as robotic arms move around the Normandy. Removing small parts and quickly replacing them. He had considered doing _something_ entertaining, but nothing really came to mind. _“Target range? Alliance HQ? Bar? I’ve been a soldier for so long that I’ve forgotten what fun even was!”_ The Commander rubbed his head until he was practically burning his scalp off. Then he sees two things that interest him.

One was the pod. It was slowly being moved past a few doors and soon escaped the Commander’s line of sight. Curiosity was biting at him for some strange reason. Then he looks at the second point of interest around the docking bay. Alenko being greeted by an elderly couple. Well not that old, but grey hair is clearly noticeable.

Shepard didn’t notice it at first, but a wild beast kept its eye on him. Teeth visible and it was undetected by the unsuspecting soldier. Suddenly a loud bark is heard throughout the docking bay. Shepard turns around just in time for the beast to tackle him to the ground. Shepard is pinned the ground by the weight and the beasts slobbers all over him. In response he simply just laughs as Alenko arrives.

“Down, boy! Down! Off I said!” Kaidan has to manually pick up the dark coated dog. Shepard calms down and pets the dog as Kaidan holds him.

“Ha-ha, didn’t take you for an animal lover, Alenko.”

“Same goes to you, Shepard.” Shepard’s hands ruffle the dog’s fur and he smothers the dog with love. Shepard shows a completely different side of himself which makes Alenko smile more than usual.

By the time the dog settles down, and Shepard, Kaidan motions for the couple to come over. They were talking with Anderson along with Adams as it seems.

“So I see you’ve met Shadow. He’s a Siberian Husky.”

“Shadow is it? How’d they think of that name?” Shadow barks and runs off to a dark corner and vanishes. He barks again as he suddenly reappears behind Shepard. This causes him to jolt up and stare at the dog with suspicion.

“Is this dog possessed?”

“Nah. Took us awhile to find out how he does that, but turns out Shadow has biotic potential. He can go really fast.”

“A biotic dog… now I’ve seen everything.”

“It’s a big galaxy, Shepard, remember that.”

“Don’t tell me that. Next thing I know something weird is about to happen.” Kaidan simply smiled as the elderly adults arrive.

“Shepard, these are my parents.”

“Oh… this is the Commander we’ve heard so much about!”

“Mom…”

“Ha! My boy is stressing over a man like you? At least it’ll keep him busy.” Shadow and Shepard both tilt their head in sync as he shook hands with Alenko’s father. Whatever that meant obviously flew right by the Commander.

“Dad!” The two parents let out a small laugh. Kaidan’s face turned bright red again.

~/~

Everyone sat and watched the Normandy with the occasional small talk. Kaidan’s parents made the occasional joke, but it didn’t process through Shepard’s mind. He was still thinking about the capsule from before. Though when he finally asked Kaidan about a joke he simply replied with, ‘Just ignore it, Shepard.’ And continued petting Shadow.

At one time Shadow was just sniffing around as if searching for something. He ran over to the group to get their attention and barked widely, however only Shepard paid interest. When the need for attention failed Shadow ended up nibbling on Kaidan’s hand until he responded. When everyone’s attention was on the god finally Shadow dashed around and went through a door. The same door the emergency pod went through. Kaidan was the first to go followed quickly by Shepard. The parents were left behind, but followed at their own pace.

“Shadow! Heel! No wait… just stop! Argh! Shadow!” It was a game of cat and mouse as Shadow led the two down corridor after corridor. Soon Shadow was found jumping in front of a covered window and spinning around in excitement.

“What’s gotten into you, Shad?” Shepard pressed a few buttons on the nearby control panel so they could see inside. Metal arms are seen like the ones repairing the Normandy, except these are slowly disassembling the pod. Hackett is inside observing and turns to see the two. He motions for them to enter.

“Admiral Hackett.” The two speak in sync and salute him.

“You two are off duty. No need to be so formal.”

“What are you doing exactly?” Shepard stared at the destroyed pod. The exterior was slowly being peeled away, but it seemed the core of it was mainly intact. Though it was dripping water and rapidly.

“This pod has been in cryo statis for a long time. Engineers estimate it to be made around the early twenty first century. More than a hundred years in space.

“No one could survive that long. Wait… how could the signal only activate now? I didn’t even know we had ships from back than with escape pods.”

“We didn’t, but someone did.”

~/~

Shepard was scrolling through bit after bit of archived information only to find squat. There was nothing about old spaceships with escape pods. Mainly documents relating to Luna and that’s it. Kaidan was talking with his mother while his father was helping Hackett. He’s Alliance with high ranking, but currently off duty.

“So tell me about your time on the Normandy. I’m sure you must have had a wonderful time.”

“It’s not that bad. Everyone is nice and I’ve made a few friends. Still practically taking care of Shepard.”

“I bet. So has anything happened?”

“Happened?”

“Between you and your Commander?”

“Mom! Nothing is happening. Besides there are regulations.”

“Regulations didn’t stop me or your father now did it?”

“Mom, why?” Kaidan endures the embarrassing talking with his mom. He covers his face for about half of it and wishes he was dead for the rest.

Between all the work and talking one of the lasers opening the pod hits something and causes an explosion. The top of the pod flies upwards and hits the ceiling before colliding against the floor. A big puff of frost covers the room. Shepard goes down towards the capsule. Engineers clear the area as soldiers take positions with rifles. With his handgun Shepard slowly approaches the pod.

It’s quiet and all that can be heard is the crunching of frost on the floor with each step. Finally Shepard reaches the edge of the pod and is surprised by the sight. A young boy covering in white frosted flakes. Somewhat long dark hair that remains motionless. His skin is pale, but color is quickly returning to a light tan. A large light grey hoodie surrounds his upper body followed by jeans. Though he has no shoes and only wears socks.

“Stand down, just a child.” The boy’s eyes slowly open, but snap as soon as he notices Shepard. He gets up quickly and falls out of the pod. Shepard looks towards the boy and sees his eyes full of terror, fear, and confusion.

“Whoa, whoa calm down. You’re safe.” The boy holds up a handgun like weapon, however it’s different. Completely dark with no silver lining and no glow from a thermal clip. _“He really isn’t from this time…”_ Shepard’s thought bites at him as he tries to think of a strategy.

“Get back!” The boy’s hand trembles as he points the gun around from soldier to soldier. All unsure if to stand down or aim. The boy stands up quickly but falls suddenly and shivers violently. Shepard tries to reach in and help, but ends up having the gun pointed at him.

“D-D-Don’t touc-c-ch me-e!” He stutters as he continues shivering. Slowly he stands, but only manages to stand on one leg correctly. His left leg is numb and he has no feeling in it at all.

Everyone keeps their distance as the boy limps around until he manages to find the door. Shepard tried reasoning with him, but he only muttered nonsense to himself. Shadow ended up following the lost boy. Kaidan was worried, but the boy seemed to not care for the company.

Hackett tracks the boy on his terminal and alerts all staff to avoid the potential threat. He also locked down the building as a precaution. The point of view of everyone watching the boy is different. Suspicion, pity, and worry. However, the boy’s mind was in a jumble.

“Where? Who? What? Blood. So much blood. Hurt. Doctor? No scientist. Don’t think! Don’t think! Must remember. Have to. Who am I? Where am I? Dog?” The boy stopped suddenly and stared at Shadow. He just tilted his head in confusion while looking at the lost human. The boy looks at the handgun and drops it suddenly. His body collapsed right then. Shepard and Alenko rushed out into the corridor to find him motionless. It was right then they notice the blood dripping from the back of his head.

~/~

Troublemaker

_“Tell me this. What starts out crawling on all fours, then two legs, and finally three?”_

_“A… man. First as a baby, then as an adult, and finally as an elder with a cane.”_

_“Good. Let’s continue the test.” The door swings open with a loud bang. A man in a suit approaches and motions for the doctor to move. He does so with no objection. He spins the chair around and sits in it. A wide grin on his face._

_“Like being here, little Zero?”_

_“You insist with the pet names. I’m not a pet.”_

_“I feed you. I shelter you. I name you. That’s my definition of a pet.” I lean forwards with a strong gaze in his face. No hesitation and no fear. There’s nothing I have to fear about this man._

_“You don’t owe me.”_

_“Yes, yes I do. After all you are an orphan. A simple document and that is that!” I reach forwards the grab him, but a shock flows though my body. I collapse to the side and remain motionless. Paralyzed to be exact._

_“By the way. Your new collar shows I own you, little Zero.” I don’t say anything. I just simply reach for my neck and begin pulling at the metal collar. Despite all the pain I manage to break it off. This will leave a bad scar. I just sit back in my chair and look down. I can feel his smile. He loves to push my limit. I hate him. I will kill him._

_“Next question…”_

~/~

The young boy trembles violently once again while in the bed of the clinic. Blankets have been stacked on him for the after effects of cryo statis. Dr. Chakwas keeps a close eye on him and studies every possible way to discover the identity of the little one. Anderson walks in with Kaidan’s father.

“Anything?”

“No, Anderson, though I’ve taken a different approach and tried finding if it’s possible he has decedents by a relative. Assuming he had family.”

“How’s that working out?”

“The computer is still processing. Would you like to talk about anything else?” Kaidan’s father stepped up and looked over the boy.

“What’s going to happen to him?”

“Unsure. I suppose the Alliance will put him in an orphanage.”

“What’s to say he’ll be able to fit in this new environment?”

“He’s still young and most likely will be able to adjust. However, I’m not completely certain.” He looks around as the objects discovered in the pod. He ends up picking up the handgun.

“Amazing…”

“Huh?” Anderson notices his interests and goes over to investigate.

“It’s an actual Colt Mustang. These are non-existent today. To have one is practically impossible.” He studies the gun closely and puts it back in its original spot hesitantly.

The heart monitor picks up and once again the young boy is wide awake. He squirms and notices the doctor, captain, and elder. He realizes that he’s strapped to the best and desperately struggles to get free.

“Easy, son, we’re not going to hurt you.” The words don’t reach him and he simply starts to break free.  Chakwas prepares a sedative and Anderson holds the boy down. Despite being fully injected he remains active and resilient. Chakwas hesitated too, but ends up giving a total of three doses to the boy. Even then he manages to remain awake until succumbing to the effects of the drug.

“Three sedatives? What kind of kid can handle that?” Anderson looks at the kid once again and tries to figure a few things out. A beep comes from Chakwas’ terminal

The three examine the terminal and are surprised at a few things. The first was how it reminded them of their younger days as a group. The second was how there was only one result from the DNA scan.

“That could explain a few things…”


	3. Chapter 3

Mirror, Mirror

_“Tell me what your name is…”_

“Tell me what your name is, son.” Two voices run in the boy’s ears as Anderson managed to calmly talk to him. He’s slightly disoriented from the doses, but is quickly recovering. His eyes wonder and fade back and forth as he sees the clinic and a bright white room. A ‘J’ rolled on his tongue as he tried to listen for the name.

 _“My name is ...”_ The voice in his head tried to remind him, but when he tried to speak the name it came out slurred and mistaken. That’s when he remembered a hand motion. His hand reaching down to the back pocket and putting something inside. He tried to mimic the same motions, but he was limited. Anderson noticed he was reaching for something and made the risky decision to free him.

One by one the straps loosened and he stretched and reached for his back pocket. A small plastic card came out, but it was ruined. The picture barely showed the face and half of it was melted. The name ‘Jax’ was left, but an ‘e’ can be somewhat noticed. Anderson looked at the ID and smiled.

“Jax, this is your name?” The boy tilted his head at the usual name. He simply shrugged. Anderson held up the ID to compare the remains with photo with his face. Everything seemed to be a perfect match except his eyes. In the photo the remaining eye was a bright green, except his eyes were a deep sea blue. He didn’t say anything and just watched Anderson.

“Do you know where you are?” Kaidan’s father was standing next to Anderson now. Karin was also watching, but doing some diagnostics. The teen simply looks down and shakes his head.

“Let’s call you Jax. You ok with that?” He doesn’t respond and simply remains still, but repeats the name slowly and silently. The medical door slides open and in comes Shadow. Without any warning the dog jumps onto the bed and tackles Jax. At first Anderson and K’s father were worried. That was until they started to hear laughter. Shadow was practically smothering Jax in slobber, but he cared little for it.

“S-S-Stop! Ha-ha!” His laughter rung through the clinic even as Shepard and Kaidan come rushing in. They Shadow doesn’t resist as it would conflict with how he was trained.

“Bad dog! Don’t run off again!” Kaidan scolds the canine, but Jax gets off the bed and bends down to the dog. Kaidan keeps a close eye on the two. He scratches in sync with Jax. “Shadow is a bit of a hyper active dimwitted dog, but he’s the bestest friend you can have.”

“Bestest?” Shepard smirks at the fake word, while Kaidan just rolls his eyes at him.

“Shut it, Shepard.” Jax gives one last scratch behind Shad’s ear before standing up. His vision is slightly blurred and stance wobbly. He shakes his head and repositions himself. Shepard’s hand reaches over and steadies the disoriented teen. He also takes note of large bandage with medi gel on the back of his head.

“Hey, kid.” The two look at each other, and for an odd reason they smile. Subconsciously they just feel an odd feeling of comfort. “Weird. Reminds me of how I looked when I was a kid. Except I had shorter hair.” Shepard gives a quick ruffle of Jax’s hair. He responds by neatly hand combing any strands that have risen. He also lets out a slight grunt in frustration.

“His name is Jax, Commander.” Karin speaks up to give the bit of information to the soldier. He simply looks at her with a bit of an odd look.

“What kind of name is ‘Jax’?” Kaidan gives him a slap upside the head as he finished the rude comment. The two glare at each other.

“That’s rude, Shepard, be nice to him.”

“I’m just saying what I think! Seriously what kind of name is ‘Jax’?” Everyone groans as the Commander persists with the question. Jax rolls his eyes and gathers a few words as bits and pieces of memory fall in place.

“What kind of name is ‘Shepard’?” Jax looks at him with a halfcocked smirk. Everyone in the room looks at the kid, but this causes him to be slightly uncomfortable and nervous.

“So you can speak!”

“Yes… I can speak. What of it?”

“So what can you tell us about that whole ‘found in a drifting capsule’ thing?” The teen rubs his neck and ends up feeling the patch on the back of his head. He concentrates on his memory, but little is revealed. The only gathered bits are of images, but most are short scenes or blurs. That’s when a small movie plays in his head.

It shows a shadow of a large ship exploding and the view of an endless void spinning back and forth. Then bangs are heard along with a hissing sound. Jax’s body is thrown around like a rag doll. A crimson liquid floats around and clings to the surrounding. He maneuvers his body to be stationary, but he’s already feeling light headed. Shivers go through his body until he hears his heart slow down and eventually stop.

“… hey! Jax!” Jax shakes his head looks around. He has been emitting a bright blue aura and everyone started floating along with some items. His nose starts to bleed, but he simply shakes it off.

“Wh… what happened?”

“You tell us, son.” Anderson comes up to him and levels the teen. He’s wobbly and seems like he will either fall down or pass out.

“I remembered a ship. Couldn’t see it, but there was something big. An explosion maybe? I don’t know what happened next. I was being thrown around and passed out, or maybe I fell asleep?” The more he thought about it the more his mind spun and felt like a smoothie fresh out of a blender. He groans in pain as he tried to stay awake. Dr. Chakwas hands out two small tablets to him.

“For your migraines.” Jax takes the tablets and looks at her with question. He doesn’t object in taking the medicine due to the pain.

“How’d you know it was migraines?” She gives a slight chuckle and others smile.

“The Lieutenant here gets them occasionally too.”

“I can handle them, doc.”

“I’ll be waiting in the med bay, Lieutenant.” Kaidan tries to ignore it, but can’t help to feel _slightly_ embarrassed. His father even gives a laugh and pats him on the back roughly. Nearly causing him to tip over.

“Is there a larger room? It’s kind of cramped in here.”

~/~

“Is that a sparring mat?” Jax speaks suddenly out loud he, Shepard, and Kaidan give him a small tour. Jax stops for a second as he realizes that he just randomly looked at a mat and thought it was for sparring.

“Well it’s a mat, and people use it for sparring.”

“Bet I can take you, Alenko!” Shepard steps in front of the two which causes them to take a step back. The Commander’s behavior has been noted by Jax and it noticeably different when near or talking to Kaidan.

“W-What? No way. I’m never sparring with you!” He quickly evades, but is pressured by Shepard. His face also is slowly turning a faint shade of pink.

“Why not?”

“You… um… cheat?”

“We never even sparred before.”

“I’ll verse you” Jax speaks up, but is quickly dismissed by Shepard.

“You’re just a kid.”

“I can still take you.”

“No you can’t.”

“Scared, Shep?” That causes a small spark to fly in his head. A devilish smirk crosses on his face and he stands tall. Obviously trying to act intimidating, but Jax has seen enough of the Commander to understand that it’s only an outside frame.

“If Dr. Chakwas asks. You fell down the stairs.” The Lieutenant rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. Obviously he can tell the future consequences, but deep down he hopes his Commander will get demolished by the new comer. Plus Jax is a biotic, and this makes things interesting.

~/~

Back down the hallway with a few twists and turns is the clinic. Kaidan’s parents have left to go back home. Hackett has also joined Anderson and Chakwas in the clinic. They update him on their discoveries.

“In these current generations Human DNA strands have become extremely complex and long that even Asari technology has difficulty tracking it. However, a look at a sample from Jax shows a massive difference. It’s significantly shorter, but still the same. If I’d have to say he’s a native from the early 2000’s or so.” Anderson is cupping his chin and taking deep thought while Karin speaks. Hackett just tries to understand the information.

“So what should we worry about?”

“For one, disease. His immunity system is weakened from being in cryo. Also that fact he’s outdated in vaccines. Also there’s the problem with time.”

“Time?”

“He’s not from around here or anywhere on Earth. He probably might remember road vehicles and simple houses. Everything is different from what I’ve studies of the present and past.”

“He can get used to it. He’s just a child.”

“That’s the problem. I worry that he’ll have nervous break downs after regaining his memory. I don’t know how he’ll react to the Asari, Turians, or Salarians.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“He’s taken a liking towards the Commander and Lieutenant. Possibly the two have rekindled some memories.” There is a small silence as ideas are put around and around, but nothing comes up. Hackett needs the two out on the field because they are part of the Normandy, which has an extremely high success rate. Anderson also needs them out, but more on the part of them being a major part of the Normandy crew.

“What if Jax came onto the Normandy?” Anderson speaks up. Hackett looks at him with a slightly confused look. Karin looks at him with surprise instead.

“Anderson, we can’t send a kid into the Alliance. He’s not even trained.”

“He’s obviously been trained for space. Training back then wasn’t an option.”

“Jax can’t fight. We can’t let a kid go onto the field.”

“Then I ask Adams to take him under his wing. He won’t fight and he won’t get hurt, or I Chakwas could train him.”

“Another medic on the ship would be beneficial.” She agrees eagerly, but hides it well. Chakwas does love the idea of having a pupil and new crew mate on the ship. Hackett just sighs and opens up his Omni tool.

~/~

A loud thud is heard in the training area. A body slams down onto the mat and a loud groan is heard. Kaidan is laughing out loud and lecturing Shepard for underestimating size.

“Told you, Shepard! Just because you’re bigger doesn’t mean you’re stronger. Remember? ‘The bigger they are the harder they fall’?”

“Shuzt haup, Alenfo.” His words are muffled as he speaks. Face buried in the mat to avoid looking at anyone. He slams his palm twice on the mat. Jax releases his other arm from behind his back and steps up.

“I win.” He speaks the obvious with a wide smile. Shepard flips onto his back and gives a loud sigh.

“You used you’re biotics. That’s cheating.”

“What are biotics? Are you talking about medicine like anti-biotics or biology?” Shepard sits up with a hunched back. He scratches his head.

“You _really_ don’t know what biotics are?”

“What’s with emphasis on _‘really’_? Is it a big deal or something?”

“What do you remember of your past? Like cars or planes. Weapons maybe?”

“Um… cars were cars. Cars had tires, doors, and had a key to start it. Planes flew, but can’t really remember what they looked like.”

“Weapons?”

“Guns? I don’t know. They shot bullets?” Shepard looks at him with a bit of surprise. Weapons were heat based now. Rumors are that thermal clips are going to be next issues, but that’s in about three or two years. Bullets haven’t been used for guns for a long time. Almost 30 or so years. “Am I missing something? Because I know I was out of it or something for a long time. A lot have things have changed, like your clothes.”

“Not right now, kid, just not right now.” Shepard gets up and motions for them to follow. Jax rolls his eyes, but follows with no objection.

During the tour he notices some odd details. For instance he was new feed on the wall. It was like a screen, but holographic. When the first window come up the view put him in shock and awe. He saw sights he had never seen before. In the distance was a city and it reminded him of something, but the thought quickly faded. A few cruisers also started to come in.

“I’m dreaming right?”

“I wish I was. I just lost!” Shepard speaks up and Kaidan smirks, but rolls his eyes. He stops and waits for the teen to catch up. He’s in a daze with confusion, excitement, and worry.

“I hope he’s not giving you a hard time. He’s usually more stressful to work with, but today he’s completely different.”

“Nah he’s fine. It’s just… I feel displaced.”

“Huh?”

“I know I’m not from here. I know something is wrong.”

“I don’t really know much, but you’re with us now.” Jax nods slightly before taking one last look out the window. The sun is starting to set and his reflection can be seen. Long black hair that sticks out. Nicely tanned skin similar to Shepard. Along with deep sea blue eyes. There is a moment he feels like he’s in a different place. Looking out a different window with his reflection looking back at him. Kaidan pats him on the shoulder which snaps him back.

“Com’on. Shepard is talking to himself and didn’t notice we stayed behind.” He rolls his eyes at the oblivious man and whispers under his breath ‘Idiot’, but with a smile. Jax simply nods and follows. He also agrees that the Commander is an idiot, but with a smile.

~/~

Everyone was either asleep or gone when night rolled by. Chakwas continued to study some anomalies about Jax in the clinic with an occasional rest. Kaidan returned home to stay at his parent’s house. He invited Shepard as a ‘nice’ gesture, but the Commander denied stating it would be rude. It did seem to dampen his spirits though. Jax was given a room that is usually used for recruits-in-training. All recruits were gone as they started their next part of training so the base was mostly empty this time of year. In the lone room he stared out the window towards the exquisite city.

Over down the narrow hall with a sharp left is the same training room from before. Inside Shepard is in sweats with a N7 tank top. He continuously throws punches at a punching bag as he tries to sharpen his skills. He may be an S-rank marksman, but he’s still stinks at hand-to-hand combat. Soldiers can overpower most enemies, except Krogan, but a kid did just ruin the N7 officer’s pride as one.

 _“How could I lose so easily? When did I even hit the ground?”_ The sparring match replays in his head. They take their positions. Shepard raises his fists, but Jax has a slightly curled hand in front with the other by his rib cage. There was also a look in his eyes. Like he was in deep concentration almost gave the feeling of looking straight into the eyes of a killer. The Commander shakes his head at the thought, but couldn’t help to feel cautious. He threw the first punch, but it clearly misses. Same happened from second to fifth punches. Until the sixth collided with the teen’s palm. His right foot which was back is kicked away. The Commander falls forward onto the mat and is quickly restrained. This forces him to tap out.

The whole scene plays over and over. He kept a close on Jax, but realizes a difference. During the fight his eyes changed. They widened and shrunk quickly. _“Was he scared, or angry?”_ The question rings in his head. During a small break Shepard went to Dr. Chakwas to ask for some expertise. Though he couldn’t help but think of mentioning it.

“Dr. Chakwas?”

“Yes, Commander?”

“Can eyes dilate from anger or something?”

“Commander, you of all people should know. Adrenaline is one of the main things that cause your eyes to dilate. Along with the ‘Fight or Flight’ mechanism that humans go by.”

“Oh, ok. So what did you find out about Jax?”

“More then I’d like. He’s not of any of the past generations, as you must have guessed, but there’s something else as well.”

“Which is?”

“He’s been subjected to multiple types of drugs. Anesthetics, Hallucinogens, depressants, stimulants, and the list just keeps going. Really he shouldn’t be…”

“Living?”

“Sane is what I was talking about to be honest. I don’t think a child that’s like Jax could gather all these drugs. Someone was giving them to him.”

“Is he… safe?”

“Yes, but who knows what kind of damage he could have had in his past.”

“Hm…”

~/~

_“Just hold still… this won’t hurt.” I’m strapped down to a chair and a needle is being stuck into my arm! How is it not suppose it hurt? Either way I can’t run away. Not this time. I just clench my teeth and try to relax, but the stupid heart monitor is going crazy. Damn it! Just relax, Jax. Just relax. I do take a few deep breaths, but I feel another needle being stuck in the back of my neck. It causes me to freeze and be paralyzed. I’m scared._

~/~

Jax jumps up from his bed and looks around. Feeling around his neck as he looks for the entry point from his dream. Instead all he finds is the patch from before. The one that Dr. Chakwas put on his head with gel.

“Just a nightmare…” His body slumps against the bed and he raises his knees to his chest.  He shivers for a second as a small gust of cold wind brushes against him. The teen simply gets up and walks towards the bathroom. Though he still has no idea what happened to the shower the sink still looks normal. He splashes water on his face to wash away the drowsiness from his eyes, but it does little. When he looks up he sees a reflection of himself. Now in better detail he can account for a few things he didn’t see before. For instance there was a small scar on his left eyebrow that cut off the end. He simply sighs and dries his face.

Back in the bedroom he slumps back in bed. Jax watches the ceiling and soon closes his eyes to fall asleep. No more nightmares bother him, but he doesn’t have any dreams either.


	4. Chapter 4

Friends

The next few days the Normandy crew continues to stay in Vancouver while more repairs were made to the Normandy. Anderson and Shepard stress over the total damage done, but regard it as they remind themselves of who they saved. Dr. Chakwas gives Jax vaccines and immunity boosts alongside with some knowledge of the current times.

“Did you know we found life out in space?”

“Like aliens? I guess that’d make sense.”

“Really?”

“Well Earth isn’t alone, and space is practically endless as far of what we know. Sooner or later we would find others out there.” She smiles are the comment and continues with a physical exam, however she finds a few other things.

During the examination Karin sees marks and scars all along Jax’s back. Some are in a pattern meant to be cautiously done for a something, but there is a large portion of his back that is scorched as well. A little down below the neck and going across from shoulder to shoulder. She covered her mouth in shock, but stopped and remained calm. She had to. This was her job and she had seen worse, but never on a young man like Jax.

“Ok, you’re done.” She handed Jax the new clothes that Kaidan’s mother bought him a while ago. Apparent hand-me-downs that Kaidan used to have. A plain white shirt with faded jeans and an Alliance hoodie. His old clothes were covered in dry blood and were quickly falling apart. He may look like an average native of Earth, but he was much more.

~/~

“Oh, there you are.” The Commander looked up as the Canadian voice called out to him. He was sitting in the café that was built in the HQ, but still with data pads thrown all over the place. The person in charge of the place gave up trying to keep from being littered of the pads.

“Kaidan, what are you doing here?” The Commander leans in his chair in attempt to look cool, but nearly falls and drops his coffee on the equipment. The Lieutenant just smiles and suppresses laughter. Though in response he simply lifts a neatly packaged container.

“Mom thought Jax should eat some _real_ food and not synthesized cuisine.” Shepard looks at the time and realizes the time. It’s almost evening. He has subconsciously been sitting in one spot and working for so long that he missed lunch and dinner. His stomach suddenly growled. “Hungry, Shepard?” He pulls out a hidden container of a food with a smile. The Commander wanted to reject the food, but his stomach spoke for himself.

~/~

Jax was wondering around the headquarters for a bit. He didn’t feel right being stuck in the small room. Room by room he passed them and eventually got lost, but he didn’t mind. After a few turns he would run into some Alliance person and they’d simply either direct him somewhere or ignore him. He finds Kaidan and Shepard in the café. They don’t notice him, but he takes the opportunity to observe them.

 _“Don’t rush into things. Observe from a distance and plan ahead.”_ A voice echoes in his head, but when he turns around nobody is there. It sends a slight shiver down his spine, but he still decides to follow the advice.

Shepard is devouring food from a small white container. Kaidan just reads a holographic pad and sighs when as he sees the Commander through the screen. He can’t help to smile a little though. Jax goes up to them as they speak.

“Can’t you at least chew?”

“I wunf chok!” Shepard speaks as he swallows the last bit of dinner. Kaidan rolls his eyes until he notices Jax.

“Hey Jax, brought you something to eat instead of military grub.”

“What is it?” He opens the container with curiosity and can’t help his stomach growl at the scent of freshly cooked food.

“Baked ham, rice, and potato salad. Simple, but delicious.”

“I’ll say!”

“Chew, Shepard.” Kaidan quickly turns to his Commander and he stares at Kaidan with a slightly open mouth. He closes it and begins chewing before swallowing the mush. Jax sits down with them and begins to eat. He also forgot how to use forks and knifes for a second, but it came back before needing to be taught by the men.

“You been able to remember anything?”

“Little, but nothing major. I did have… actually never mind.” Jax waves his hand and quickly eats. He practically stuffs his face with half of the potato salad and rice. He thought he would choke, but didn’t.

“Seriously! Chew you two!” Kaidan slams his palm on the table which gather’s the attention of a few bystanders and the two. They do as he says and eat ‘normally’. The rest of the meal is in silence, but as soon as it’s over Shepard brings up a question.

“What did you mean by ‘Never mind’?”

“It’s… it’s nothing really.”

“Jax…”

“Shepard.” He throws back his name instantly like it was natural. He smirks, but realizes an odd feeling and brushes it away quickly. The Alliance soldiers don’t catch it and give a confused look. Jax sighs.

“I’ve been having some strange nightmares. I wasn’t sure what they were, but I remember them somewhat after waking up.”

“Like what?” The two speak in sync and give a nervous grin to each other, but change fo

“For instance, the first night here I dreamt about being tried down to a chair or something. Someone stuck a needle into my arm and my heartbeat was being recorded. Then a jab came from in my neck. I don’t really remember what happens next.”

“That’s… awful.” Kaidan speaks up while Shepard keeps quiet. He’s listening to every detail and continues to piece together information about the teen’s past. Jax continues with a few other nightmares as well. One about a fire while another was about fighting a silhouette figure.

“This, I’m guessing a man, was standing there. I vaguely remember the clothes, but his face was dark. Nothing was there. He just kept punching and punching me. A voice yelled something, but I didn’t hear.” He shivered at the thought. Shepard comforts him by firmly placing a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re safe now. Don’t worry.”

“… Right…” Shepard resumes his daily work. Kaidan states he’s heading home because Shadow will most likely run away to find him. Stating the same thing happened when he first left. Jax simply accompanies him to the exit. In the hall Alenko springs up a bit of conversation.

“He’s very fond of you. You two act practically like brothers.”

“You’re not gonna start calling me _‘Shepard’_ too?”

“Don’t worry, Jax. Having _one_ Shepard is difficult enough. It’s best that way.”

“You sound _very_ fond of him, Kaidan.” His face twists with a faint shade of red. He manages to calmly pull off not freaking out in front of Jax.

“Well… um… he’s my Commanding Officer. I’m usually following him on missions and listen to his orders. He’s also Second-in-Command.  Anderson is the Captain though.” Kaidan quickly blurts out all the excuses he can think of in less than five second. Jax simply rolls his eyes and continues walking.

~/~

The rest of the day Jax simply stays in the docking bay and watches ships zoom in and out, but he keeps his eye on one particularly. He rests his elbow on the side of the bench he’s sitting on. Just then someone sits next to him suddenly which causes the teen to shift and be slightly surprised.

“Ain’t she a beauty? Best ship in the Alliance fleet I’m telling you. People may like the heavy bulky ships that have firepower or armor, but I like speed. Not only is she fast, but she’s silent. In and out just like that. No one ever notices her.” A man with a baseball cap and a somewhat growing beard sits right next to Jax. He’s obviously talking to him.

“Unless you look out a window…”

“Well… um… who looks out windows these days?”

“People.”

“Wow, kid, way to shoot me down. Anyway I’m Joker.”

“You’re a homicidal maniac from the batman series?”

“Ya! I also do children’s birthday parties and _love_ going to comedy night.”

“You gonna have green hair and a red smile?” He slams his face on his for head and laughs out loud. Jax smiles and remains quiet.

“Who are you, kid?”

“Who me? I just wander from room to room.”

“Geez you are a wise crack bastard. Name? Or do I have to start calling you something.”

“You’re the guy named ‘Joker’.”

“Because I just _love_ to smile. Let’s not repeat the previous conversation.”

“Fine. I’m Jax.”

“The names Jeff.”

“I kind of prefer Joker.”

~/~

The two of them sit and watch the Normandy slowly getting repaired. Occasionally a conversation springs up, but not without a witty one-liner. Then the question comes.

“Did you hear what happened?”

“Huh?”

“The Normandy, the ship I pilot, brought in this weird capsule thing. Rumors are going about, but apparently someone was alive in it from the past! Can you believe that! Being stuck in a pod like that for what 20 year? Must stink.”

“Actually…”

“Jax!” Anderson’s voice booms in the bay. People turn their attention to him for a second before returning to their duties.

“Hey, Anderson.”

“I see you’ve met Joker. Hope he hasn’t given you a headache yet.” Jeff rolls his eyes and adjusts himself. He also keeps himself occupied by adjusting his knee braces. “I’m sure you had a nice time with our guest?”

“Guest? I thought he was someone’s kid.”

“He isn’t, Joker. He’s from the capsule we recovered.” Joker looks at the Captain for a second and laughs out loud. After a few seconds it dies out and he looks back and forth from the two.

“Wait, wait, wait… let me get this right. Jax was the one who we saved?”

“Not only that. I’ve been in that pod for more than a few dozen years.” Joker looks at the two with a funny expression. His eyes are wide, and lips covered by his hand that cups his chin. He honestly has no idea what’s going on.

“So… you’re a time traveler?”

“I dunno. I guess.”

“Ok, next time something this _big_ occurs. Tell me first hand.”

“No promises.” Joker groans and resumes watching the Normandy. Obviously pondering about the new information. Anderson motions for Jax to follow. A few hours ago him and Hackett talked about Jax. The two pulled some strings as they decided what to do with the young teen. Ultimately he cannot join the Alliance, but he can be put under Alliance Protection. The idea is necessary for multiple reasons. Protection is one of them. Containment is another.

~/~

_“Ah, Jax. I’ve heard about you.” When Anderson motioned for me to enter the room I was instantly greeted by an elderly man. Anderson told me I was speaking to Admiral Hackett, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to say so I just let him do most of the talking._

_“I’ve heard about you too, sir.”_

_“Sir? That’s a bit formal isn’t it? Just call me Hackett. Anyway I’ve asked Anderson to get you because we need to talk about a few things. For instance what will happen to you after the Normandy’s crew has departed.”_

_“If I may. I was thinking I could well… go with them.” Hackett looks at me for a second with surprised, but then smiled. Was it something I said?_

_“I’m not sure we can do that, Jax. You are a little young and even if you’re 18 there are still regulations.” That dampened my spirits. It really did._

_“However, I could pull a few stings with Anderson and see what we can do.”_

_“You’d do that? For me?”_

_“To be honest I have a few reasons for doing it. Also it seems best that you stay with Shepard.”_

_“Why’s that?”_

_“In due time, Jax. In due time.”_

~/~

It hasn’t been an hour and Jax is already thinking about the previous conversation. He’s going to be tested during the last days the Normandy is being docked and repaired. It’s almost done. In a total of five days it was given new armor plating and even a few updates for the newest technology. Jax occasionally watches it as metal arms move around and the ship or lays in his room staring at the ceiling.

 _“What did he mean by having a few reasons?”_ Jax’s thoughts seem to speak loudly in the silent room. He shifts so his eyes can scan the view from the window. His train of thought is broken off as a loud barking can be heard outside. It brings a smile to his face as he sprints out the door.

~/~

Jax makes it across the docking bay that most likely beats any recruit having to do a rush delivery. Only two instances nearly stop him or cause him to crash into someone, but he manages to evade the obstacle just in time. In the bay the door opens and in comes Shadow. He’s running faster than normally and goes directly towards the young teen. A pulse of purple aura emits from him as he jumps and tackles Jax. They slide on the floor for a few second until stopping completely.

“Shadow! Argh!” Kaidan runs as quickly as he possibly can, but is bending over while holding the side of his stomach. “Argh… that hurts.” Shepard quickly comes in behind him with a similar exhausted look.

“He…” He pauses as he steadies his breathing. “… can really run.” The two men slowly make their way from the entrance to Shadow and Jax. They wave instead of saying anything else while Shadow taunts them by running around them.

“How far have you two been running?”

“Awhile…” Both speak in sync and are too tired to joke about it or anything. Kaidan sucks in some air as he tries to ignore the sharp pain near his stomach. He groans as it is a reminder with each step. Shepard is simply steading his breath and trying to calm his body, but for some reason is having difficulty.

“So you two were out? How was it?” The Commander suddenly looks up and then towards the Lieutenant. Once again his face is as bright as a red rose, but it’s difficult to tell if it’s from exhaustion or something else.

“Nothing! I mean nothing happened. We just um… went on a walk with Shadow.” Shepard gives an explanation quickly without hinting at any specific details. Jax simply shrugs and continues petting Shadow.

“Ok.”

“So… what are you doing up?”

“Just thinking about what Hackett told me.”

“Which is?”

“I’m leaving with the Normandy.”

“What?!” Shepard’s voice echoes throughout the whole bay. It’s even louder than the machines and people talking.

~/~

Hackett knew something like this would occur, but never expected things to go as they would now. Or so suddenly. It would have been better if he found out last minute so things could be handled on a comm., but he didn’t get his wish.

Shepard busted through Hackett’s office door. It’s not even his really he’s just using it for a while until he leaves. Desk jobs never did suit him. The moment the Commander stepped into the room he knew the topic.

“Why is Jax coming onto the Normandy?!”

“I honestly thought you’d be excited, Commander.”

“He’s just a kid! He’ll get hurt! Or worse!”

“Last I recall he managed to pin you down in only a few moves.” Shepards opens his mouth to object, but quickly closes it as no words form. Hackett simply smiles and stands up with a data pad. “First of all her, read this. Secondly, next time you lose to a child try to be discreet with surveillance.”

“I… uh… yes, sir…”

“Shepard, Jax will be fine on the Normandy. He’ll be better than staying on Earth.”

“I just don’t understand. Does it have something to do with… oh…” Shepard’s eyes gaze at the medical picture from Jax’s physical exam. He sees all the scars and bites his lip. The Commander continues reading and lets out a long heavy sigh. This shows his defeat. “Fine… he can come.”

“It wasn’t your decision, Commander, but I’m glad you agree.” He groans as he flings the pad onto the desk. His hand waves in the air as he exits the room. Still baffled by the situation of Jax, yet he questions little. He’ll follow orders and may even look after the kid. Shepard just doesn’t know what will happen.


	5. Chapter 5

Glimpse of the Past

 Three shots are fired in the shooting range. In the distance the target has three burn marks in the head region and all near in the same spot. The other target next to the one is similar except the shots are more spread out. Jax pulls back the heavy pistol at the same time as Shepard.

“It’s heavier than I thought it’d be.” Jax shouts over the other shots being fired. Shepard looks at the pistol and shrugs. They exit to the next room where it is quieter.

“Not bad, Jax. Almost as good as me, but you missed one shot.”

“These guns are weird. They heat up and shoot lasers.”

“Well we had to stop using materials as ammunition. You know. Safe for the environment and stuff.”

“Well at least people finally learned.” They unload the equipment onto the work bench. Neither of them are sure of what the topic of the conversation should be and decide silence is best for now. Alenko comes in with a data pad in hand and coffee in the other.

“Alenko, looking busy eh?”

“Huh? Oh hi, Shepard, I’m actually here for Jax.” He hands Shepard the things in his hands and speaks again. “Anderson needs you to do this. Also the coffee is because I _know_ you didn’t get any sleep again. After that’s done get some rest, Shepard.”

“I know, Kaidan, I know.” The Lieutenant leaves with Jax. He’s were and tired, but still has energy to get him through the day. The distance across the base is longer than the Normandy and speed walking saps everything out of him. He could simply leave and have some free time, but he doesn’t know what he’d do.

They arrive back to the training room, but enter another room with different mats and equipment. For instance there were blocks instead of weights and the mats were grey.

“Why is this room different?”

“This is where biotics train for control.”

“Dr. Chakwas said something about biotics before, but I’m still confused about it.”

“Ok let me give you a short summery of it. Nice and sweet. When someone is exposed to Element Zero, also called Eezo, it can make them biotically potential. It can be used without an implant, but is very unstable and can be dangerous to you and others. Let me show you an example of concentrated biotics.” Kaidan turns towards one of the blocks and moves his hand outwards towards it. A purple, blue aura surrounds him and his hand jerks back. The block floats and heads towards the Lieutenant. He catches it as floats towards him.

“Telekinesis!” Jax blurts out loud which causes Alenko to chuckle a little.

“Kind of. It’s been called that. How about you try it.”

“… huh?”

“You used your biotics before remember? In the clinic? It’s really strong and practically started lifting everyone off the floor!” Jax looks at him for a second with a puzzled look, but turn towards another box. He mimics Alenko’s movements and reaches out for the box, but nothing happens.

“I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Just keep trying.”

“Ok…” Jax resumed concentrating, but minutes passed faster than expected. Kaidan didn’t mind and used this time to relax. Then something happened. Jax began to emit a light blue aura, which is different from Kaidan’s.

“You did it!” Kaidan jumped up and clapped his hands, however Jax didn’t respond. He didn’t even move. “Hey, Jax, you ok? Jax?”

~/~

_“Concentrate, Jax! Concentrate!”_

_“I am!” That same man circled me like a damn vulture. He had a powerful, deep voice and wore a suit. Who wears a suit in space?_

_“Then do it!” My hand glows blue and the cup move a few inches towards me. The man gives a long sigh before slamming my head onto the table. If I can get two seconds with this bastard he’d regret treating me like this. “You’re worthless.” He pushes me off the table and I practically snarl at him. He just grins at me before leaving. I’ll kill him. I’ll kill all these monsters._

~/~

“Jax!” Kaidan grabs Jax before any more boxes go flying across the room and hits them. Jax’s nose is bleeding and the aura around is body is intense. As soon as Kaidan breaks through to Jax everything stops.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Maybe we should avoid biotics for a while.” Scanning the room shows mats practically pulled up and boxes either broken or dented.

“My… head… is killing me.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure.”

~/~

Once again Jax was found in the clinic being examined by Dr. Chakwas. This time she used the more advanced equipment to examine him for Eezo exposure. The teen’s readings were higher than normally and beyond abnormal. Further examination showed another anomaly, but with Jax’s heart.

“Jax, I recommend no further use of your biotics. These readings need to be examined and calculated.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s difficult to explain.”

“Oh… ok…”

“Just be safe, Jax.”

~/~

During everything engineer Adams has been working on discovering any information from Jax’s cryo capsule. Personal belongings were scavenged, but most were destroyed or damaged. He laid out anything he could find onto a table for it to be dried. So far he found a worn out backpack, a notebook, a few pencils, an old laptop, and old dollar bills.

“Find anything, Adams?” Anderson steps towards the table as Adams closely examines each item. Intrigued and curious about current technology compared to the past.

“I’d say I just found about everything, but I’m sure there are few other things. Just got to dig deeper. Take a look at this. A twenty.” Adams waves the bill around in the air. Anderson snatches it and is alarmed by the bill.

“That’s American currency.” Strange since most of Earth’s currencies in countries changed from dollars, pesos, yen, and rupees to credit. Some people still use the old currency, but newer generations have gone with credit.

“Not only check the year on the coins.” Adams moves a few nickels, dimes, and quarters towards Anderson. The date on one of the quarters is 2007. “Pretty old coin, huh?”

“That’s farther back then I thought, but when did the US send a ship into space with a kid like Jax on?”

“I’ve already looked into that. Nothing. Hackett did the same and got similar results.”

“You said ‘similar’.”

“Well he hasn’t found anything, but he suspects there’s something hidden away. Provided with the right information he may get access to investigate this further.” Anderson rubs the bridge of his nose as he always does when stressed and speaks.

“Every government back then was so corrupt. I’m just glad things have changed.”

“People were corrupt. They always can be, Anderson.”

“I suppose that’s true, Adams.”

“Just speaking out loud, sir.” Further examination of other items raises a few eyebrows. For instance the laptop should have been damaged, but works. Slightly. It turns on, but the screen spazzes out and shuts off. Adams currently trying to repair it or get the information from the hard drive, however past technology is difficult to compare with future tech. Anderson is reading the soggy notebook. Most of the pages are ruined, but a few lines can be made out here and there.

_I don’t like this place. In the vent I heard people talk about going to space. As out of Earth’s atmosphere! I miss my family. I wish I could have gone and lived with Uncle S…_  
  
… something is off. I haven’t heard from Frankie or Kat for a long time. We’re all getting worried. This ship may be big, but you can exactly get lost. Unless… NO! I can’t think they could do that. Could they? What if that suit guy did it? Great I’m worried again.

_I want my family. I want out of here. One of the others went crazy. Killed his roommate. We’re all in solitary containment again, but I think it’s permanent this time and…_

_Doc came by today. He’s the only one that’s still nice to me. I think each time one of the guards beat up someone they get meaner. I killed one I had to. He would have killed me._

Anderson closed to notebook. Unable to continue. He slammed his hand on the table causing everyone to jolt to attention. He hides his gritting teeth that can easily show his anger.

“I’ve got to see Hackett.” He takes the notebook and marches out the room. Adams stares in his direction for a second before returning to the laptop.

~/~

“You see? This was bigger than we thought. There were _other_ children and from what Jax wrote it seems like they were experimented on. Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

“All too well.”

“There really isn’t any reason to lie to command. It is best for Jax to be under Alliance protection.”

“Hm… I’m just worried about what those people actually did. From Karin’s further examination his heart is modified.”

“Anderson, you can’t keep digging into this. It’s not healthy.”

“You can’t honestly expect me to forget about this, Hackett.”

“No. I don’t, but you should know this wasn’t during out time. It was beyond our control and we can’t do anything. We can take care of Jax and keep him safe. Ok?” Anderson lets out a long heavy sigh.

“I guess you’re right. We shouldn’t let Shepard see the notebook. It’ll drive him crazy.”

“Agreed.”

~/~

Anderson was worried about having over the few possessions to Jax. The journal could be a catalyst that might trigger his memory for better or worse. Even after the talk with Hackett he still wanted to change the past, but knew he could do nothing. Instead he focused on tracking whoever did what they did to Jax and the other children. The thought of children being experimented on like wild animals seemed to boil his blood. Nobody knows how the Commander would react if he found out about any of this.

“Jax, I’ve brought you something.” He enters the training room where Kaidan and Jax are. Shepard is here, but fell asleep. Most likely out of boredom. Shepard has to be concentrated on something or else he’ll go into hibernation in ten minutes.

“I think you’ve got the meditation down, Jax. We’re done for now.” The two biotics nod in agreement and stand. The young biotic quickly dashes over to Anderson. He simply extends out a slightly damp backpack with a smile.

“Found it in your pod. Thought you’d like it.”

“I had this?” Jax twists and turns the pack with curiosity and then opens the large zipper. He pulls out a notebook, a wristband of some sort, and a data pad. The notebook looked familiar to him and had a pencil in the metal spiral. The wristband seems to connect around the wrist, but has an extension that goes down midway to the forearm. Then came the data pad. It was turned off and closed, but was slightly different from the ones Shepard had.

“What’s this?” He holds up the odd wristband and tries to put it on, but has difficulty. Alenko simply comes by and helps him. Anderson stands by the doorway with one hand behind his back. In a split second Jax’s arm turns a bright orange. It’s a big block as his new Omni tool configures itself to adjust to Jax’s arm. He nearly yells, but Kaidan reassures him that the new tool is safe.

“This is called an Omni Tool. Kind of useful for everyone now.”

“So it’s a giant holographic glove?”

“Yes.”

“Hm…”

“I need to get going. Hackett needs me back immediately.” Anderson speaks aloud and waves off. Jax gives a friendly smile and wave before he goes out through the door. He takes his hand away from his back and looks down. Slightly ashamed of himself. He tore out the journal pieces that could have regained Jax’s memory. He didn’t want to show them because of how terrifying the experience sounds.

Back in the gym Jax studies the Omni tool and questions it. Kaidan throws some soft equipment at Shepard to wake him up, but he simply groans and shifts around.

“Something wrong?”

“It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Just why does it have to be orange?!”


	6. Chapter 6

The Beginning

The final hour before the Normandy’s departure. It shines bright from the morning sun and is in top condition. It even got a paint job for the letters. Jax watches from a distance as crew member after crew member travels to the airlock to enter the CIC. A few people travel in packs cheering in joy while others wave goodbye to family members. Occasionally he gets up to look over up at the sky. Full of flying cars and oncoming and outgoing ships. At first he felt lonely, but smiled as he activated his Omni tool. A message from Hackett arrived that said he will be able to pass security with minimal issues.

“Jax! Com’on! We don’t wanna leave without you!” Jax turns as he hears Shepard’s voice throughout the whole bay. It was different. He didn’t sound loose like when they were on shore leave, or when Alenko is around. It was more powerful. Direct. This explains to Jax of how he achieved the rank of Commander.

The biotic just stands there for a few seconds and stares off into the distance. Emotions course through him and his body automatically moves like a robot. Excitement, Fear, and Curiosity. He knows he was in space before, but to him it was the first time of an adventure. His feet climb up the ramp and stops at the airlock. It was closed. He looked around and didn’t see anyone coming. He looks around in confusion and tries to look for something to open the door.

“Why you standing out here, son?” He turns around and sees Anderson in the airlock.

“The door wouldn’t open.”

“Right. Out of all the things they fix the airlock isn’t one of them. It’s either stuck shut or _slightly_ ajar.” He turns around to reenter the Normandy. Jax follows quickly behind so he doesn’t get locked out.

“Pressly, everyone onboard?” He stops next to an elderly man and takes the data pad from him. No objections what so ever.

“Yes, sir. Everyone is accounted for… you know there is a child onboard correct?”

“This is Jax, he’s under Alliance protection.”

“Why didn’t he just stay behind?”

“Pressly, I have orders to protect him.”

“I… yes, sir.” Anderson leads me through the CIC and around down to the mess hall. The shape of the ship is odd, but to be honest I like it. Seems unique.

“Don’t mind Charles, Jax. At first he’s cautious about new arrivals, but after a while he’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t mind. Just wonder what _exactly_ I’m going to do.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m don’t want to be useless and take up space. I want to help.” Anderson stops while going down the stairs and examines the data pad in hand. He questions a few ideas before two seem to work best.

“What if I let you work with Karin or Adams? Let them teach so you can help out. I can’t let-”

“-I know! I can’t do field work like being a soldier or anything.”

“I was going to say pilot the Normandy.”

“That works too.”

“Jax, you can handle yourself. Once you are capable of using your biotics you _may_ go out on the field.” The biotic hides the wide smile of excitement. He doesn’t really want to fight or anything, but he wants to explore and see new sights first hand. Even as they speak the Normandy is taking off and leaving Earth’s atmosphere. Advanced technology prevents space sickness, but Jax feel it anyway. He simply ignores it for now. “Shepard, already working?” Over by the mess hall the Commander have several scattered data pads with one in hand.

“It’s not like Joker is going to do this!”

 _“I heard that.”_ Jeff’s voice comes from all surroundings and Jax tries to find the source. Only to realize it’s coming from his Omni tool. The only this was he didn’t activate it which surprised him.

“It’s true.”

_“Ya, but at least I get to sit and relax without any stress.”_

“Watch it flyboy, I can easily mess you up.”

 _“You wouldn’t dare goody two shoes.”_ Jax notices Shepard tapping his finger on the table and he face in a slight scowl appearing. Almost seemingly like an inner battle or good or bad. However, Shepard just sighs and resumes work. With a side note to ignore the helmsman. Anderson rolls his eyes and heads back upstairs. Jax takes a seat by Shepard.

“Need any help?”

“This is military grade stuff. Nothing you’d be interested in.” Jax simply takes a stray data pad and examines it. The Commander is too busy to even worry about what he might do. If he decides to do anything. It seems to be an old report about something called the Skyllian Blitz. It intrigues him, but he doesn’t finish it as a wave of nausea passes over him.

“You look a little green.”

“I… can’t turn green!” Jax raises his voice slightly louder then he should which embarrasses himself. Instead of staying around he gets up and goes over to Dr. Chakwas. If the Normandy was turning or anything he defiantly was feeling it. “Dr. Chakwas…” He groans and regurgitates as he enters the med bay. She quickly turns towards him and helps steady him.

“You look a little green.”

“I can’t turn green…” At the end of his sentence he nearly throws up, but stops himself. Green. That’s what made him want to throw up. Just the thought of the color made him want to hurl chunks onto the ground. Karin move around and opens a few cabinets. She finally finds a dusty old container and smiles. She takes out a silver packet and rips the top off. A small patch sticks out and she grabs it.

“This will help you.”

“What is it?”

“Medicine.” Karin sticks the patch onto Jax’s exposed arm. At first it stings him then cools down. He head slowly starts to clear and the color green no longer makes him want to vomit. It just makes him feel sick.

“That… actually worked. What is it?”

“If I told you then you’d probably not want to use it ever again.” She says the sentence with a perfect smile before returning to her duties. Jax puts his backpack down in a corner before exploring more of the ship.

 _“Now where else should I go?”_ His words linger in his head as the med bay door closes. It scares him slightly each time, but so far he’s starting to get used to it. Also by Shepard is Kaidan who is working on some sort of terminal. He looks busy so Jax post pones disturbing him for now. He simply just walks back upstairs and looks around.

The CIC galaxy map caught his eye though. A few crewmen look at him with funny looks, while others just waved or nodded towards him. _“Just smile and don’t touch anything Jax”_ Someone’s voice rings in his ears. When he looks behind him there is no one. Besides a few people, but they’re too busy to bother with the newcomer. Eventually he makes his way to the cockpit and discovers Joker.

“How should I know? It’s not like I ever really go down there.”

 _“Even after repairs this thing keeps failing! Didn’t you put in that request?”_ Kaidan’s voice comes from a speaker on the dashboard. Joker rolls his eyes, but thinks for a second.

“Ya. I’m sure I did. I think.”

_“You think?”_

“It’s not my fault I’m so busy!”

 _“Busy doing what exactly?”_ Silence. _“Thought so.”_ A beep is heard that tells the conversation is over. That and Kaidan disconnected. Joker groaned and then noticed Jax behind him. His chair spun to give his full attention to the biotic.

“How long were you there?”

“Long enough. Why are you facing me?”

“Huh?”

“Eyes on the road… er… space?”

“Does the phrase ‘Advanced Technology’ mean anything to you?”

“What about ‘Notifications’. I bet the Omni tool, which is _advanced technology_ , can remind you.”

“Touché, Jax. Damn you’re really tackling me down.”

“You make it too easy.” Joker scoffs and rotates around the dashboard. Jax sits in the chair to his right.

“So… you just put in coordinates and the ship goes there?”

“Ya. I fly it when we’re in battle too. Now why are you here exactly?”

“Just looking around.”

“I mean _why_ you are here. On the Normandy that is.”

“I’m not sure. Something about Alliance Protection and I have to be moved around.”

“Oh well atleast we have some extra baggage. Not like we already got other stuff taking up space.”

“I’m going to be helping Dr. Chakwas with medical and Engineer Adams with technical stuff.”

“Well I’m not sure about Adams, but at least Shepard will have another doctor nearby.”

“I figured as much.”

~/~

Back on Earth a dark haired woman was in Hackett’s office. He left before the Normandy as he had to return to space to fulfill his other duties. She locked the door and stayed in the dark with the terminal.

 _“What exactly are you looking for?”_ A man’s voice hissed in her comm. This caused her to be slightly annoyed. The same man has been irritating her for the whole mission and she hasn’t gotten one break.

“Don’t you have something better to do?”

_“Sadly I have completed all tasks that need to be done. So I’m currently free.”_

“Go bother someone else.” Her eyes read through the reports and the data copies onto her Omni tool. She even sees the exam and tests from Dr. Chakwas. She was skeptical about this mission, but after looking into the data it interests her. “I’ve got the data.”

She clears the room of all trace of her existence and exits through the door. As she moves through the Alliance base she remains like a natural soldier with a data pad in hand. On the screen is just a few old reports about Commander Shepard. As she exits the building a car arrives at the front. A long haired man in dark clothes sits in the driver’s seat. She quickly enters the passenger seat in the back.

“Why is this data important again?”

“Just the usual.” The man answers with a stale voice to show how much he just _love_ to talk to her. The woman rolls her eyes and stairs out the window as the car begins to move.

“Security needs improvement.”

“It’s only been awhile since all the ships have departed. Therefore staff has been minimized and we can enter and leave with little effort.”

“I know that, but still.” She stops the argument and returns to minding her own business. She moves the screen to show the data she collected from her Omni tool. Unusual biotic results, video recordings, Jax pinning Shepard, and his medical report. It was abnormal and was very interesting. She gave a slight grin and tapped one finger on the pad before swiping to her next mission. A dossier on a krogan on the Citadel. “I’m getting out here.” The car pulls down to a port. The man turns around and looks at her. She simply throws the data pad on the seat and steps out.

“You know you’re next mission.”

“Right, onto the Citadel.” She begins walking away from the car in a cool manner. The man watches for a second and then leaves. A wide grin takes place on her face as she reviews the data in her head.

~/~

“Kaidan! How’s my favorite teacher?” The Lieutenant looks up with slight surprise and Jax leans over on top of the terminal. He wipes his forehead and smiles politely, although Shepard beats him to replying. He has already repaired most of the terminal, but it will most likely be ruined again by tomorrow.

“I thought I was the favorite!”

“You’re both my favorite, but Kaidan teaches me how use biotics.”

“Fine. He wins in being the best biotic teacher.” He waves his hand around before returning to his work. The two biotics roll their eyes and smile behind the Commander’s back.

“I’ve got some free time tomorrow, Jax, just not today. We’ll work on some more breathing exercises. Have you been doing yours?”

“It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do right now.”

“Well I’m sure someone around the ship needs some help. People always need help.”

“Ya, that’s true.”

“Let’s catch up later.” The Lieutenant returns to his work and Jax taps on his legs as he thinks. He remembers Anderson saying something about engineering. Maybe he could start there?

~/~

“Ok Jax, since Anderson told me you’re going to help in engineering tell me what you can do.” Jax stares at Adams with a blank expression. Maybe he should have just stayed with Chakwas.

“Not much, but I’ll do my best to learn the ropes.”

“Ropes?”

“It’s… an expression.”

“Well anyway all you really need to know is how to use your Omni tool correctly. It can be used from making field repairs for soldiers to calculating math for kids in school.”

“I think I understand how to use it, but I wish this wristband was comfortable.”

“Wristband?” Jax rolls up his sleeve to show the band that Anderson gave him. He chuckles for a second and rolls up his. It is just a simply band that goes around the wrist, but not down to the forearm or anything. “That there is a new prototype. How Anderson managed to find a Savant X is beyond me. I do know that Shepard’s squad finds a lot of things when out on missions though.”

“Is this good?”

“Ya it is! Do you know how difficult it is to even get your hands on one? Actually strike that. Just know it’s the best model right now.”

“So… what exactly can I do with this for engineering?”

The rest of the day is Adams going over instructions for an easy ‘How to use an Omni tool’ lesson. The young biotic seems to grab hold of the concept quickly and with minimal effort. Adams calls him a _child prodigy_ , but Jax just thinks it’s easier once he understands how to turn the think on.

For him working with future technology was complicated at first, but he gradually adjusted. The first week on the Normandy was rough on him though. He had trouble sleeping and was plagued with nightmares. Occasionally he’d stay in the mess hall for a while before he finally started yawning which indicated he was sleepy again. He generally stayed in medical with Chakwas during the night and fell asleep there.

After a while he started to develop a routine. Wake up, breakfast, engineering, lunch, medical, cockpit, dinner, and finally sleep. There were also other basic needs in between as well. Kaidan and Shepard also made some time to teach him a few things. The Lieutenant started teaching him some sentinel techniques. Shepard continues giving lessons on shooting, but they can’t shot anything so it’s just reviewing techniques and such.

On the seventh night Jax stayed in the mess hall again. The toll from lack of sleep is starting to show. He’s more alert, but jumpy as well. He’s over the space sickness, but strange nightmares are flooding his head. Each night it gets more intense. He even dose out during the day. Jax did his best to stay away, but his eye lids feel heavy. He ends up face planting onto the table with a loud bang.

 _“Wake up!”_ A man’s voice shouted at him. Instinctively Jax threw up his hand in a defensive position, but nothing came. _“Useless worthless piece of trash!”_ The voice echoed around the room. No matter where he looked he couldn’t find the source. _“How about I just put you in the airlock and let the air slowly leak out!”_ Jax hid under the table with his hands over his head. He wanted it to stop. He couldn’t take it.

_“Leave him alone!” A man in a lab coat come forward with two guards behind him. The big brawny man with the table let stopped hitting me. My forehead was bleeding and my exposed arm and leg felt twisted and stung with each shiver. I don’t even want to mention my ribs._

_“Why? He’s a stupid brat! Can’t even do a simply task! Move the cup! Move the fucking cup!” He kicks me in the stomach. If I had anything in it I’d probably throw up by now. The guards grab the man and the coat man bends down towards me. The brawny man throws threats and insults like a child. That is until one of the guards take out a syringe and sticks it in his neck. The liquid was black and whatever it was it caused the man to fall flat onto the floor. I think he’s dead._

_“I’m so sorry. We had no idea he was doing this to you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” He looks down at me and tries to help me, but I cringe at his movement. I don’t know these people. I don’t like these people. But, I do notice he said ‘me’ and not ‘us’. I don’t care though. A stretcher comes into the small room and they try to lift me. I fight back. Instead of them having to carry me I simply walk. Despite my leg being broken or something. Honestly I can’t feel it. During the walk I see the others. They’re all in class and notice me. Shock and worry. That’s what I see most._

_“You’ll be fine, Zero. The doctors are going to help you.” I look behind me and see the same man again. The man in the suit. I still don’t know his name, but his gives me the wrong vibe. I just look down and nod._

“Jax?” Jax’s head snaps up and connects with the table. He groans in pain, but make my way out from under. Shepard is awake, first like always. “What are you doing down there?” The biotic don’t say anything and quickly hug him. The Commander is confused for a second, but just pats him on the back for comfort. “How about you take it easy today? Those nightmares seem you be taking a lot out of you.” Jax nods and hold tight towards him.

“They called me Zero.” Shepard looks at Jax and pulls apart from him a little. Kneeling down to give his full attention to Jax. Jax would be considered average height in his generation, but in the future he’d be called short.

“What?”

“My nightmare. The people called me Zero. Like I was something, but not a person.” Shepard looks at Jax, but just pats his shoulder.

“You’re Jax, got it? Even if those nightmares seem real you’re Jax. Got it?”

“Ya, but…”

“Jax, get some sleep. You look like shit.” Jax can’t help to smile at that stupid comment. He drops the conversation and heads back to his bed. Although Shepard seems to be increasingly worried about the young teen.


	7. Chapter 7

Mission Priority: Eden Prime

March has started and Jax has spent about three weeks, or so, on the Normandy. The crew has increasingly started to accept him. Even Joker became good friends with Jax. Although he generally spends his time in engineering or medical after Shepard and Kaidan return from a mission. Jenkins generally goes with them, but Shepard is angry after his last stunt in combat.

“You’re an idiot. This gel stuff may keep you from dying, but does it really mean you have to take all the bullets like a sponge?”

“First off - ow! It’s called Medi-gel. Secondl - easy! Secondly, those aren’t bullets. Lastly, a sponge?” Jax narrows his eyes at the Commander before slapping on some more gel on his shoulder wound. He winces at the pain, but eases down as the gel cools and reconstructs his injuries. Before he knows it all external wounds are gone and Jax moves onto scanning him for anything else that’s hidden. Chakwas and Kaidan watch with a wide grin at the two.

“You can skip that, Jax, I’m fine.”

“Standard procedure _and_ I don’t trust you.” Shepard scoffs and crosses his arms. Jax’s Omni tool beeps which indicates Shepard is in perfect condition. “Done.” The Commander gets down and puts his shirt back on. He mumbles something about work and goes through the door.

“Well… seems your begins the rookie medic.”

“Dr. Chakwas says on the nurse.” Kaidan gets ready to speak, but only air enters and leaves it. He quickly shuts his mouth and walks out the door. He obviously was thinking about something, but immediately stopped that train of thought. Jax simply disregards it and continues his medical duties. Dr. Chakwas has been able to get a break and rest a few times. Jax doesn’t mind and actually enjoys being productive.

Later that same day in engineering a few cables got loose during the last mission. It’s in the ventilation system, which is extremely tiny, and as luck has it Jax can fit in it.

“You can do this, kid. Just crawl through and place this coupling to the wires that are detached. I’ll go the rest from my end.”

“Right… where do I have to get in again?”

With barely any time wasted Jax is brought to a vent in the CIC. Everyone watches him as he starts to crawl into the vent. His skin sweats from the enclosed space, but he still manages to crawl through.

_“Kid, you there yet?”_

“My arm is stuck under my stomach.”

_“Right! I’ll you back soon.”_ Jax groans and continues pressing forward. He mutters to himself about the current situation.

“If this ship _just_ got repaired then why is it falling apart so much?” Finally he reaches the loose wires. He gets his stuck arm free and begins attaching the coupling. He tries to whistle, but fails dramatically. Finally he just stays quiet and shimmies back through the vent, backwards. The whole time Jax felt awkward. Joker said something about approaching something, but didn’t hear what it was. Then Jax got stuck. Something was caught on his pants and when he moves a sharp piece of metal glided against his skin. If he tries anything it could possibly hurt him.

_“Jax? Where are you?”_

“Busy, Adams! Just give me a few minutes to get out.”

_“Better hurry. We’ve got a visitor coming onto the Normandy.”_ Jax could hear the massive movement of people, but paid more attention to the metal shard. It was mainly leaving marks on his skin. It has also attached itself to Jax’s pants, which are now starting to rip a little.

“Spectre is boarding! Everyone give full attention!” Anderson’s voice is so loud that even echoed in the vent. Jax does his best to get free, but ends up poking himself. He hears metal armor clanking and a new voice.

“Captain Anderson, It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The voice wasn’t human. Jax had learned about life other than humans, but didn’t really look into the subject.

“Like wise Nihlus. I’m sure you know all details of the current mission.”

“Yes, I have reviewed the details. Also may I ask why there is an open vent?” Jax stays as quiet as possible and waits for Anderson to say something.

“Engineering is making a few repairs.”

“That’s a very small vent. Is someone really in there?” Outside the vent it’s a little quiet. Nihlus waits patiently for Anderson’s response while Jax continues to stay still. Then there is a banging.

“Jax, you still in there?” The biotic pauses for a second to determine his response. He’s a little nervous about a few things. For instance what would the visitor think about a teen doing repairs on one of the most advanced ships in the Alliance? Actually that’s the only thing to be nervous about. He simply takes a deep breath and speaks.

“Just finishing up some repairs, Anderson! I’ll be out in a bit!” Back in the CIC Nihlus takes note of a few things. The size of the vent and the pitch of the voice. He guesses that Jax is a young engineer with an abnormally thin body. He also takes note of the other crewmen. Each one of them matches their description he read from file obtained by Spectre Authorization, but there wasn’t one about the young engineer. He also plans on observing the Commander, whose profile was partially corrupted, and determine his stature as a soldier despite his history.

Anderson continues giving Nihlus the Normandy tour and leaves Jax alone in the vent. Jax continues to squirm and try to get his leg free. Suddenly his Omni tool lit up and illuminated the vent. Joker was contacting him.

_“Jax, I thought you were done with repairs. What’s taking you?”_

“I’m… I’m stuck…”

_“You got in perfectly. Can’t you just shimmy on out?”_

“Something is caught on my leg. It won’t let go. Also I think I’m going to need a new pair of pants.”

_“I know it’s dark and scary, but is it really that bad?”_ Joker snickers at the taunting comment, but Jax simply lashes back.

“Why don’t _you_ go on in here and crawl through this ship? Huh? How about you do some heavy lifting?”

_“Not gonna happen. Not even if the crew was endangered.”_

“You jinxed it Joker. You really did.” He cuts Joker off completely and continues moving to get out of the vent, but is still stuck. Finally he calms down and repeats Kaidan’s exercises. A calm mind to focus clearly and direct everything to a defensive barrier. His blue aura now glows in the vent and it surrounds his body. With a jerk he pulls down towards the exit. The shard pierces his skin, but due to his barrier it only leaves a long cut. Nothing too bad. It also brushes against his shoulder and poked him in a few other places. When he finally could see the shard it was bent and no longer sticking outwards.

The biotic calmed down again and was able to stop his biotic power use. Before the only ways he was able to stop were by nose bleeds or small biotic shockwaves. This was a better way to do things. Once out he got up and brushed off the dust from his uniform, but when examining his leg his left side was torn and had hanging fabric pieces. Jax sighed and head back down to engineering while tearing off pieces of his pants that was uncomfortable. By the time he returned to Adams the left side was missing below his knee and a large bleeding cut was visible as well. Adams was on the console in front of him and only heard Jax return.

“Jax, I’m glad you got back. I need you… what happened to your leg?”

“I was stuck in that vent for 15 minutes, and you didn’t think anything was wrong?”

“You could have contacted me.”

“I can’t even Google stuff on this this!” Jax shouts at Adams and points to his Omni tool. He looks at the teen with some confusion and hands raised as if about to be attacked.

“Jax?”

“What?!”

“What’s Google?” That blew it. Jax right there gave up and walked away. He went straight back to the med bay. All throughout the way he was ranting silently about things he hated. It was mainly how technology has made people to dependent on it to preform simply tasks and communicate. Also it may have had something to with how his leg was irritating him.

“Jax? What’s wrong?” Dr. Chakwas turns in her chair and looks at him. He cleans the blood and places a small amount of gel onto the injury.

“Everything….” He speaks in a low dramatic voice that would be humorous if it wasn’t for the fact he was cleaning up his leg wound, which isn’t really something that bad.

“Sit down and talk to me. It’s certainly not like I’ve anything else to do besides sit here and wait for someone to catch a cold.”

~/~

Dr. Chakwas and Jax talk in the med bay while Shepard and Kaidan remain in the mess hall as usual. That’s when Nihlus and Anderson come from the elevator. The two had just finished going around engineering and the loading bay. Though they just leave with only saying hello and goodbye. Alenko has finally fixed the terminal, for now, which means he’s free until the next mission. Kaidan got a short version of the report about Eden Prime, but didn’t get well into detail of the mission. He hated being behind on this kind of stuff.

Shepard was reading over every single detail of Eden Prime. The precious cargo, a Prothean beacon, was to be retrieved and brought back to the Citadel for study. Though he’d never been to the Citadel it turns out his first time there might be because of his mission. A simple mission, but for some reason there was this unsettling feeling. The main thing he was rather or not to take Jenkins, but that would probably be Anderson’s call. By his guess the Normandy was still a bit out from reaching Eden Prime which gives him a while to prepare, and other things.

“Alenko, you ready?”

“Huh? Oh. Ya, I’m ready. All my equipment is in my locker.”

“You seem a bit distracted, Alenko.”

“No, Commander, I’m just reviewing a few things in my head.”

“Don’t stress yourself out.” Shepard smiles and Kaidan chuckles a bit before looking straight into the Commander’s eyes from a distance. He looks away quickly, but continues to smile.

“Isn’t that my line, Shepard?”

“Ya, but I’ve got to use it every once in a while.” The short conversation stops there with Kaidan’s face slightly red and Shepard with a silly grin. Though the two act like its friendly chatter they wish it was small flirting. They are Alliance soldiers trained to the finest, but still can’t share their feelings for each other. Jax came out from medical and heard the conversation. He thought it was flirting, but kept it to himself. At the same time Alenko leaves to go up to the cockpit for his average ‘Talk-to-Joker-because-I-need-to-be-distracted’ time. Shepard watches from the corner of his eye as he leaves.

“So what’s your upcoming mission?” Jax sneaks up on Shepard. He slightly jolts up before trying to at natural. The young biotic suppresses his laughter and decides to let the jokes slide. This time at least.

“We’re going to Eden Prime.”

“I’ve read about that. One of the first human colonies that developed, correct?”

“Yup. We’re going there to get a Prothean beacon.” Jax stares at Shepard with a blank face. “What?”

“What, or who, is a Prothean.”

“I’m no historian, but I think it was some highly advanced race or something. They disappeared or something. Might have to look it up on your Omni tool or something.”

“So… what’s important about this beacon?”

“Do you always have to ask so many questions before I leave for a mission?”

“Gotta make a guess on what medical supplies to prepare for your return.”

“Jax, this is a simply pick up.”

“Then why is that visitor here?”

“Nihlus? The Turian? He’s just here to oversee things.”

“I doubt it.” Jax crosses his arms and stays firm to his beliefs. In fact he isn’t the only one thinking this. A few others of the crew have begun to either have similar thoughts of either Jax or Shepard. Shepard continues his work and decides to ignore the teen. “I’m telling you something is going on here.” Shepard ignores him and Jax gets frustrated and leaves. He does take the words into account and quickly search for possible reasons why Nihlus would go with the Normandy for this ‘Pick up’ mission. Jax heads upstairs to the CIC where Anderson is looking at the galaxy map.

“Anderson, we’ve got to talk.” He turns to see Jax as soon as he speaks. He looks around to see that everyone is already busy and decides to speak to the teen.

“What is it, son?”

“I don’t exactly trust this mission.” Anderson narrows his eyes and looks at him.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s sketchy. I can’t help but have this nagging feeling like something is off. Nihlus, the visitor or something, wouldn’t be here for a simple pick up.”

“He’s here to represent the Citadel Council. He’s also a Turian, Jax.”

“Now I’m even more worried.” Anderson has his full attention directed on Jax now. No being nice or fatherly. He’s all Alliance Captain now.

“Jax, you must know that this is a very important mission. Spreading thoughts like these can damage moral, so I’ll ask kindly. Keep it to yourself.”

“Fine...” Jax leans up against the railing and thinks for a second. It’s odd. Whenever he goes into deep thought or thinks of a strategic plan everything just stops for him. Almost like he’s in his own world, but as soon as the train of thought ends so does his world. “… but I’m going down.”

“What?”

“I’m going down with Shepard. If it’s a simple pick up then I won’t have to worry about anything. However, you refuse and I’ll know something is wrong _and_ that you’re keeping it to yourself. Simple decision Anderson. Yes or no?” Jax, a young biotic with amnesia, had just cornered a high ranking Captain of one of the most advanced ships in the Alliance.

“I think you should let him go, Anderson.” The voice, which didn’t sound naturally human, came from behind Jax. He spun on his heel with a small back step. A natural reaction, but the way he performed it looked like he was trained to do so. Nihlus looked at Jax with interest and studies him. “A child on the Normandy? I must say it’s surprising to see one here and that you managed to trap Anderson in such speech.”

“You… you’re Nihlus?” Jax looked at the Turian from head to toe. He’s strange looking to the teen, but at least he didn’t freak out and run away. Jax still continues to study the Turian even though he’s talking.

“Yes, A Spectre as well.”

“What’s a Spectre?” Nihlus changed position. He was becoming more and more interested in Jax by the second. Also the fact the teen looked like he’d never seen a Turian made him curious.

“Have you ever seen a Turian before?”

“… No…” Nihlus and Anderson look at each other.

“How unusual.” The Turian spoke again. “Perhaps we should continue this in private?” He motions towards the comm. room and neither one objects. Though things shift quickly as soon as the door closes when they enter.

“What’s going on, Nihlus?”

“I assume this would be more productive if we had Shepard here as well.”

“For that _missing_ bit of information?”

“If you deem to call it that then yes.” The teen crosses his arms and thinks about everything. Still trying to wrap his young mind over the situation, which Nihlus can obvious see, so he takes advantage of this. “We’ll arrive to Eden Prime shortly. I assume you have equipment prepared?”

“Euh… equipment?” Anderson clears his throat and speaks up due to the biotic’s confusion.

“We’ll both head down to the armory and suit him up. Nihlus, you can do as you wish.”

“Thank you, Anderson, I think I’ll check on your helmsmen. I’ve heard he’s the best in the Alliance.” He slowly leaves and the two humans follow. Anderson leads Jax into the elevator where they both wait patiently for it to reach the loading bay, which is also the armory.

“Is it just me or does Nihlus seem to higher ranking now?”

“He’s a Spectre, Jax, so theoretically while he’s not military he’s still able to boss me around.”

“Doesn’t seem like a good system. If someone does some bad stuff they can simply point fingers and choose their scapegoats.” Anderson remains quiet after hearing that. Jax isn’t far off from his opinion. While Spectres report to the Citadel Council they can easily get away with bad deeds. Though it seems to be a waste to tarnish such a position in the galaxy. “Anderson?” He wasn’t sure if Anderson silently agreed with him or struck a nerve. The teen simply wished it wasn’t both.

~/~

Shepard was already geared up by the time. Just attach one more cuff and the gloves along with the boots. Generally he is speedy with this, though not as fast as Alenko, but he was taking his time. Jax’s theory about the mission seems to have made him cautious. Though he was surprised to see the Captain and Jax arrive to the armory.

“Jax? What are you doing here? Don’t you normally go to Joker by now?”

“Ya, but change of plans. I’m going out!” It was dead silent in that little area now. Jax for some reason thought of a grandfather clock ticking and tocking for a good five seconds before Shepard spoke.

“What?!”

“What do you mean ‘What?’?”

“You’re not coming.”

“Do I really have to say the same thing I said to Anderson?”

“Which is?”

“If I don’t get to do this isn’t a normal mission and if I go I’m wrong.”

“That’s… you’re still not coming.”

“Not you’re decision. Besides Nihlus thinks I should.” Shepard rubbed the bridge of his nose. The image looked very similar to how Anderson looks when he’s frustrated with Shepard. It was funny, but still odd.

“Fine. I’m going to the bridge or see Joker and Kaidan.” He leaves them and goes up the elevator. Jax watches Shepard while Anderson shifts around a bit of old equipment.

“This is some old armor, but it should adjust to your physique. Though it’s not very powerful unlike Shepard’s armor, which is for a soldier.”

“Which is mine for?”

“Medic class. Those have been decommissioned and replaced with sentinels and mixed with others.”

“Do you _really_ think I’ll be safe? I mean I mainly have old armor and my unstable biotics.” Anderson looks around before grabbing one of the many pistols on the table.

“Just take it. Just in case.”

~/~

_“The Arcturus Prime relay is in range. Initiating transmission sequence.”_ The mission was about to start soon. Joker’s voice went over on the Normandy’s speaker. Shepard was now making his way to the cockpit and dodging a few people in the process. Jenkins even greets him, though Shepard is _still_ annoyed with his reckless behavior from before. Pressly gives a nod to the Commander as well, but quickly continues his work. _“We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination. Relay is hot. Acquiring approach vector. All stations secure for transit. The board is green. Approach run has begun.”_ Shepard has arrived at point of controls of the Normandy now. All geared from neck to toe in medium armor with all weapons attached to his suit. Joker begins a countdown as the Normandy connects with the Mass Relay. With a jolt the Normandy quickly makes its way towards Eden Prime.

“Thrusters… check. Navigation… check. Internal emissions sink engaged. All systems online. Drift… just under 1500 K.” Joker does his standard check of systems and Nihlus replies.

“1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased.” The Turian Spectre turns and walks away. Joker scowls for a second before speaking his mind out loud.

“I hate that guy.”

“Nihlus gave you a compliment… so you hate him?”

“You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on way out of the bathroom? That’s good. I just jumped us half way across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that’s incredible! Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don’t like having him on board. Call me paranoid.”

“You’re paranoid. Shepard, you must find this fine right? The Council helped fund this project so it’s reasonable to send someone to keep an on their investment.”

“That’s the official story. But only idiots believe that.”

“Jax had similar thoughts exactly. I’m not entirely sure myself now. Spectres don’t normally go on shakedown runs.”

“So there _is_ more going on here than the captain’s letting on.” Right then a beep is heard. Anderson’s voice comes from it.

_“Joker! Status report!”_

“Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems are engaged. Everything looks solid.”

_“Good. Find a comm. buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime.”_

“Aye, aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way.”

_“He’s already here, Lieutenant. Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm. room for a debriefing.”_

“Got that, Commander?”

“He seems angry. Something must have gone wrong.” The Commander turns away and starts walking towards the comm. room, but the conversation still trials on for a small bit.

“The Captain always sounds like that when talking to me.”

“I can’t possibly imagine why.” On the way to the comm. room Shepard stops by and talks to a few of the crew. Even though this might be time consuming Shepard has learned to manage time efficiently. Though it seems even Pressly was skeptical about the mission as well. This also goes towards Jenkins and the Commander and doctor have to give him a short lecture about being calm and safe. Even though he generally could investigate further into certain subjects he decides to push it off for a large amount of things.

When he entered the comm. room he was greeted by Nihlus, but Anderson wasn’t around. Nihlus quickly speaks and questions Eden Prime. Shepard is suspicious with each word. He speaks about if Eden Prime can _really_ be protected and how the galaxy is a dangerous place to humans. Right as he finishes Anderson steps in with Jax behind him.

He’s outfitted in an older version of Shepard’s armor. Shepard’s is black with ‘N7’ on it and red and white strips on his one arm. Jax’s armor is thinner and attaches to his body, but the thing is it doesn’t cover his whole body. A large portion of the chest is covered, but Jax’s right arm is exposed while his left is covered. His back has a piece missing near the neck and his legs seem to have plating on the front. A very old armor issue that is even missing a few parts indeed. Any exposed areas show a black under suit. A heavy pistol is also attached to his leg magnetically.

Anderson starts to speak to Shepard about the mission and a ‘need-to-know’ basis for information. Though the fact it was a Prothean beacon seems to lack the _classified_ touch. Both Anderson and Nihlus continue to speak about the Prothean and the mission, but suddenly Nihlus speaks about something else.

“The beacon is not the only reason I’m here, Shepard.”

“Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander. He’s here to evaluate you.”

“Guess that’s why I bump into him every time I turn around.” Jax would normally say something, but considers simply listening. This isn’t the type of conversation he can just jump in and speak his mind. Though he considers it strange for him to even be there. Anderson speaks about the good of humanity and how Shepard becoming a Spectre allows humans to gain a bigger role on the Citadel. Nihlus acknowledges Shepard’s record and states he needs to see the Commander in action. Shepard says he’s ready for the mission, but before Anderson can speak Joker’s voice sounds over the speakers.

_“Captain! We’ve got a problem.”_

“What’s wrong, Joker?”

_“Transmission from Eden Prime, sir. You better see this.”_

“Bring it up on screen.” Gun fire is heard as the transmission develops. A woman in white and pink armor tells the person recording to get down. Jax stares intensely at the screen while everyone watches and studies it. Right before it cuts off a large figure starts to descend on Eden Prime.

_“Everything cuts out after that. No comm. traffic at all. Just goes dead. There’s nothing.”_

“Reverse and hold at 38.5.” The recording reverses and stops at the figure that is descending onto the planet. No one speaks. Not even Nihlus. “Status report!”

_“Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area.”_ Anderson gives the order for the Normandy to land. Nihlus gives advice that a small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention to secure the beacon.

“Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up, Commander. You’re going in.” Shepard doesn’t respond and simply looks at the figure. Anderson comes up to Jax and rubs his neck. “You can’t-”

“I’m going.”

“Jax, this mission is out of your league. I just can’t-”

“I’m going. I’ve been training with Dr. Chakwas for medical care. If there are injured soldiers or civilians down there then I have to go and help them.” Anderson stands and shifts uncomfortably. An obvious note of worry is present on his face. Jax is right once again, but he’s not prepared for combat in either offensive or defensive tactics.

“Anderson…” Shepard’s voice is lower than normally. It surprised the young teen. “… I’ll keep him safe.” Anderson pauses for a minute before nodding his head in agreement.

“Very well, Commander.” Anderson leaves the room and only the Commander and biotic stay in. Neither speaks nor moves. Shepard stares at the figure trying to plan out strategies. Jax is slightly fearful of the strange anomaly. It sends a shiver down his spine as if bad things are to come. Little does he know that his instincts are correct. Things can only go downhill from here on out.


	8. Chapter 8

Eden in Ashes

The mission was simple. Look for the beacon. Bring it to the Normandy. Deliver to the Citadel. Along with helping or finding survivors, but the mission came first. Yet nothing in life goes at plan. The strike team landed and was ready to start their mission. Shepard was the leader with Jenkins and Kaidan as the muscle. Jax’s role was of the medic, but was going to be a sort of scavenger and engineer.

The things that quickly followed after departure from the Normandy could not have been predicted. Anderson had instructed that Nihlus would give status updates through the mission, but he also didn’t know what would happen. No one would. Except one. The strike team moved cautiously forward and then Jenkins moved up to take point. Drones appeared and each shot tore through Jenkins’ shield. Jax has everyone’s health and shield statuses on his Omni tool. Jenkins’ vitals dropped when he hit the ground.

Shepard fired his rifle and Kaidan threw biotic warps. Jax hesitated and shot his pistol blindly from cover. One by one the enemies exploded and fell to the ground. When the fighting stopped Shepard expected Jax to have some sort of panic attack, but he didn’t. The teen simply went to the fallen comrade and kneeled down beside him. He states that Jenkins shouldn’t have died like this. The Lieutenant agrees and Commander promises to give him a proper burial after the mission.

That’s when he notices it. The look on Jax’s face was all too familiar to him. His eyes were hollow and empty just like his back after that mission on Akuze. The teen showed minimal emotion before walking off.

“You should talk to him, Commander.”

“After this mission we need to focus on getting to the beacon.”

“I know, but still…”

“Later, Lieutenant.” The Commander’s voice is sharp which causes Alenko to flinch slightly. He nodded and remained quite after that. Shepard regretted being so harsh on Kaidan, but changes his line of thought to focus on the mission. It doesn’t work.

Jax went on ahead to scavenge the drones for any useful information or tech. Nothing was good. The drones had a sort of self-destruct and memory wipe. Most likely to prevent intelligence leakage from any fallen robots. The remainder of the strike team pressed forward and continued to fight more drones. That is until gun fire was heard. This wasn’t being shot at them, but someone else instead. Jax ran forward to see what the commotion was. Shepard and Alenko stormed behind. There was the sight of another soldier.

 A woman who was running from drones and shields that barely held up against their attacks. She fell to the ground, but quickly used it to her advantage as she drew a pistol and shot the drones that were chasing her out of the air. In the distance some sort of robots places a man on top of an object. Jax’s eyes widen from fear as her was suddenly impaled through the chest. The robots also turned their attention to the woman. She waved around behind a boulder and readied her assault rifle. Jax was also in her sights.

“Shepard, a survivor!” Before he could finish the Commander unleashed a rain of fire from his assault rifle as the Lieutenant provided cover. The fight didn’t last long and it was clear enough to approach the survivor.

“Gunnery Chief, Ashley Williams, of the 212. You the one in charge here, sir?”

“Are you wounded, Williams? We have a medic.”

“No, sir. Just a few scrapes and burns nothing too serious. The others weren’t so lucky.” She quickly glances at Jax who nods and then goes to the fallen robots. Same luck with the drones. “We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get a distress signal out, but they cut our communications. I’ve been fighting for my life since then.”

“Where’s the rest of your squad?”

“We tried to get back to the beacon, but we were ambushed. I don’t think the others… I think I’m the only one left.”

“This isn’t your fault, Williams. Nobody could have predicted this to happen.” Jax takes Shepard’s words out of him before anything. It comforts Ashley, but only slightly.

“Ya… we held our position as long as we could, but the Geth overwhelmed us.” The young biotic looks at the Gunnery Chief for a second then to the robots. He mutters the word and tilts the head. All he really wonders is why they remind him of a table lamp.

“The Geth haven’t been seen outside the veil in over 200 years. Why are they here now?” The Lieutenant gives a few questions into the Eden Prime crisis. It’s starting to give the teen some back ground information, but also some questions as well.

“They might be here for the beacon. It’s just right over there to the dig sight.” Ashley points past Jax. He heads in that direction to scout out. She looks at the teen and turns back to the Commander. “Why is there a kid here? He doesn’t seem any older then fifth teen!”

“He’s been a great help. He’s not as defenseless as he seems. Anyway we could use your help, Williams.”

“Aye, aye, sir. It’s time for pay back.” The strike team, now with Ashley Williams in the party, continues forward in their mission to secure the beacon. Jax kept his distance from the dig sight, but close enough to keep track of the Geth. Whenever he thinks of that word he thinks of lamp head robots. It’s funny for a second, but then remembers that they killed Jenkins and the Eden Prime civilians and soldiers. When the strike team closes in he gives a brief sum up of the enemy’s current location. They all take cover and the first grenade is thrown. It doesn’t activate just yet so one of the Geth Troopers decides to investigate. Once close enough that’s when it detonates.

After the fighting Shepard pats the teen on the back for a job well done. He rolls his eyes and states the job isn’t done since he didn’t see the beacon. Ashley says that the beacon was just at the sight and must have been moved. It’s questioned whether it was by some soldiers or the Geth troopers.

“What about survivors? There have to be some, right?”

“I don’t know, kid. They’re probably in camp that’s just up this ridge if anyone survived.” Jax nods and understands that despite all odds it’s most likely no one survived. Shepard and the rest look around for any useful equipment. Most of it is just a poor quality pistol or rifle. The teen slowly goes up the ridge and looks around. He finds only destruction and more people that have been impaled. However, when he steps too close the spikes lower and the corpse reanimate back to life. They’re just walking husks, and they have their hollowed eyes trained on Jax.

“Shepard!” Jax cried out and then hears a clatter going on down below. Something must have been dropped. Most likely the rifle he was looking at. Jax raises his pistol and focuses closely on his targets. He fires several times and the closest husk falls to the ground. However, the second one tackled Jax to the ground. In the corner of his eye the husk he shot down steps back up again. The one on him lets out a groan that is inhumane so he tries his best to get free. Gun fire is heard and the husk’s head is shot multiple times before falling limp.

“Jax, are you ok?” He throws the lifeless body to the side and picks him up. Jax shivers for a second before calming down.

“Ya. Sorry about that. I wasn’t… I wasn’t expecting them to be alive.”

“What did the Geth do to them?” Ashley looks at a husk with a repulsed look. Kaidan seems a bit pale as well.

“I can’t believe they were still alive.”

“They weren’t alive. If anything the remains were husks of those who once were.” Jax looks around and spots a somewhat intact building. Once contained supplies that is useful for everyone, but the other is locked.

“I don’t believe I taught you how to hack with your Omni-tool, Jax.” Kaidan steps forward and quickly activates the door. The teen watched the Lieutenant’s form while hacking and quickly understands it. At least from an observing view. Everyone looks in to find two scientists.

“Humans! Thank the Maker!” Jax looks at her for a second and goes into though. He isn’t aware of any religion with someone being called ‘The Maker’, and it also strikes a small cord for him. Most of the conversation goes on without his attention and mainly revolves about the attack and beacon. The phrase ‘Thank the Maker’ sticks to his thoughts as he tries to remember where exactly he had heard that before. Then the male doctor looks at Jax and catches his attention.

“The light from above! It will only bring demise!”

“Light? What?” Jax looks at everyone else who seem just as confused.

“Beware the unnamed! He will try to bring all down!”

“Hush, Manuel, go lie down. You’ll feel better once the medication kicks in.” Ashley leads everyone towards the spaceport. Jax looks back towards the building with the doctors and wonders.

“Any idea what he meant by ‘Light from above’?”

“He is most likely in shock from everything. Probably doesn’t even know what he’s saying.” Shepard gives a reasonable explanation, but for some reason Jax thinks differently. He didn’t know why or how he knew so he just stuck to Shepard’s reason. For now at least.

“I guess…” Everyone checks their equipment and Jax hands out some scavenged gear for their armor and weapons.

“Mind me asking why you’re here, Jax?” The teen looks up at Williams as she finishes her question. He managed to convince Anderson to let him go with Shepard, but that was before the video that Joker caught.

“I want to help in any way I can. You don’t need to worry about me, Ashley. I can handle myself.”

“I can understand wanting to help, but why down here? It’s no place for a kid like you.”

“It’s a long story.”

“If you say so. Just stick close and stay out of danger.”

“Roger, roger.” Shepard and Kaidan came up to the two so they could continue. After walking past the building a loud gunshot was heard. In the distance a large ship is seen. Everyone is surprised by the size of it, but the focus is changed when enemies are seen.

Another firefight occurs. Husks charge up the hill, but are knocked back down by the Lieutenant. The Commander uses his sniper to pick off enemies in the distance while the Gunnery Chief shoots a barrage of bullets from her assault rifle. Jax tries to help by shooting the husks with Alenko, but since he doesn’t know any biotic or tech talents he feels pretty useless. Still a single bullet to an enemy helps. When the last Geth falls the strike team takes a breather.

“Alenko, you’re with me. Jax and Williams see if you can find any survivors.”

“Understood.” Ash and Jax go right while Shepard and Kaidan go down to the hill. Ashley once again asks the teenager a few questions as they make their way towards the nearest structure.

“So, kid, mind me asking what you’re trained in?”

“Basic medical and technical support. I’m still learning.”

“Did the Alliance teach you how to shoot a gun?”

“No.”

“What about joining the Alliance? How’d you get stuck with them?”

“I didn’t. They got stuck with me.” The Chief narrows her eyebrows at that. Jax doesn’t seem to mind it one bit as he goes to open the door to a shed. A man speaks up which causes Jax to reach for his gun, but not draw.

“Everyone stay calm! We’re coming out! We’re unarmed!” Two men come out along with one woman. She speaks quickly as asks if it is safe.

“It’s safe now. Nobody is going to hurt you.” Jax takes a second to register why exactly he spoke just like Shepard. It felt odd since it would make more sense for Ashley to speak. The first man speaks and talks about how the things, most likely husks, were crawling all over the shed to get inside. He is also thankful the soldiers intervened and indirectly saved them. They talk about the large ship and slowly get into detail of the attack. Jax opens his Omni to take notes about the mission. The teen interrogates them about the attack, beacon, and the mysterious ship. It’s all basic stuff though. They got scared, fled, and were confused about the whole thing. Though there was one major note that came up about a noise.

“The noise was probably just a jamming signal. Anyway thank you for your cooperation we should get going.”

“Hey, Cole, maybe we should give them the stuff. They’re soldiers and we’re just farmers.”

“Jeez, Blake! You gotta learn when to shut up.” Cole turns around to yell at Blake, but when he turns around he sees Jax right up to him. The teen has a deadly piercing look on him that causes Cole to back up a little.

“You have something to share, Cole?”

“S-Some guys were running a smuggling ring. It was small and nothing major. They put packages in out sheds in exchange we get a cut of the profit.”

“You break the law.”

“We’re not hurting anyone! Hell, I don’t even know what’s in the packages. Just though there could be something we could use. There was a pistol. Figured it would be handy, but you’ll probably need it. Even though you’re just a kid.”

“My team and I are risking our lives to save this colony. You _sure_ there’s nothing else to help us?”

“Ya… I was going to sell it, but you probably can make of more use to it then I will.”

“Who’s your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What’s his name?”

“He’s not a bad guy. Besides I’m not a snitch.”

“This attack is bigger then what it seems. He may even be involved.”

“Ok, maybe. His name’s Powell. Works at the docks at the spaceport. If he’s still alive.”

 _“Jax. Williams. Get down here now. We have a problem.”_ Shepard’s voice come up on the two’s comms. They look at each other before quickly taking off and leaving the survivors behind. The biotic and soldier run down and see the Commander and Lieutenant over someone. When in close enough they see who it is. A Turian. It’s Nihlus.

“Damn it! How could this have happened?” Alenko stands up and paces back and forth. Shepard shakes in head and takes a minute before responding respond.

“Nihlus isn’t the type to go down easily. I doubt Geth could take him down.”

“Then who? This mission is just getting worse and worse. Who knows what will...”

“Lieutenant, knock it off!” Shepard snaps at Kaidan. Both of them look at each other for a second, but look away.

“Sorry…” The two speak in sync and the Gunnery Chief is confused by the sight.

“Are they always like this?”

“It’s complicated.” Jax goes over and motions for Shepard to move. Which he does. Jax examines the area and spots movement. A single hand motion towards Ash makes her go towards the crates.

“Stop! You by the crates!” The Commander and Lieutenant ready their weapons, but Jax gives another motion for them to lower their guns. Surprisingly they obey.

“D-Don’t shoot! I’m human! Like you!”

“Let me guess. Powell?”

“How… how do you know my name?”

“Cole.” He swears beneath his breathe and then goes for a different tactic.

“I saw what happened to the Turian. The other one shot him.”

“Go on.”

“The other one got here first. He was here before your friend showed up. He called him Saren. They seemed to know each other. Your friend relaxed and let his guard down… then Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I’m just lucky he didn’t see me.” Jax looks back at Nihlus and reaches for his head. Gently he moves Nihlus’ head and it confirms the reason of death. A single shot to the back of the head.

“Where’d Saren go exactly?” Powell motions the cargo train and how he headed to the other platform in a most likely attempt to go after the beacon. Powell starts to talk about how the beacon was trouble and then mentions the giant ship that departed shortly before. “How come you were able to survive? Why didn’t others hide behind the crates?”

“They couldn’t. I was already behind the crates when the attack started.”

“Wait a minute. You were hiding behind the crates before the attack started?” Kaidan points out a very good observation. Powell responds by saying he takes naps during his shift. That begins to tick Williams off because he was able to survive due to being lazy.

“If you hadn’t taken a nap then you’d be dead just like all the others.” That remark comes from Shepard. It’s questioning whether he’s trying to make Powell fall bad or just stating a fact. Most likely both. “We need to find that beacon before it’s too late!” The three run off, but Jax stays behind.

“Listen, Powell, we need that equipment.”

“Can you just…” Jax puts a firm hand on Powell’s shoulder. At first it’d be thought to comfort from being traumatized by everything, but the grip just gets tighter and tighter. Jax's eyes also change mysteriously.

“No. You see we’re fighting and you’re running. Hand over that equipment you stole and I’ll shoot you.” Jax puts cracks in his nerve and he quickly breaks. Powell quickly gives Jax the stolen equipment along with a prototype. Before Jax can say anything he runs off. The biotic quickly runs down and to the right to only stumble over Geth with holes all over their chests. Gunfire is heard and as Jax comes near the railing he sees everyone shooting at a giant Geth that is running right towards them.

For a teenager he reacts quickly. Without any hesitation he installs the prototype to a grenade and throws it in a position where the giant robot will run towards. Shepard begins to order Ashley and Kaidan to fall back, but then the fireworks ignite. The robot comes tumbling down and it’s destroyed body slides past everyone.

“Having fun?” Jax leans over the railing with a wide grin on his face. Ashley smirks at the kid’s cocky attitude along with Kaidan.

“Could have warned us, Jax!”

“I was busy!”

“Stuff! Things!” A few more shots are fired. More Geth are still around. In reflex Jax grabs his pistol and shoots directly at the incoming enemies. One falls while the others hide behind enemy. Shepard would praise him if he wasn’t stuck behind cover and trying to advance ahead.

“Jax, can you use your sniper to cover us?”

“Two things, Shepard. First of all, that is a very bad idea. Secondly, that is a _very_ bad idea!”

“Just do it!” Jax grumbles a bit as he takes out a spare sniper he’s been carrying. He wasn’t intending to use this, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Jax steadies his hand, but feels an odd chill while looking through the scope. It’s too chilling. Two shots are fired before it overheats. He managed to take down one of the trooper’s shields and get them to flee back into cover. The strike team advances forward to get a closer shot while Jax continues to pin the Geth down. Before long they’re all destroyed. Jax holsters his weapon and rushes to catch up with everyone on the cargo train.

“Nice job, kid.”

“Thanks Williams.”

“You can just call me Ash.” She finally considers warming up to Jax a little and it works in making him smile.

“Oh thank goodness. I hate being so formal.”

“I can relate.” Shepard starts the train and they’re off to the other platform that Saren went to. Things were about to get interesting. Right off the bat they were spotted by Geth and had to take cover, but not only did they have to worry about that there are bombs planted around the area. Shepard and Ash give Kaidan cover. He quickly instructs how to defuse the bomb to Jax since they won’t have a lot of time.

“If you can’t defuse it then don’t risk it.”

“I can do it.”

“You sure?” The teen didn’t wait for a response since he had run off after watching Kaidan finish. It seems simple since Kaidan uses his Omni-tool. However, Jax still doesn’t understand this technology fully. Shepard notices that Jax isn’t around.

“Alenko, where’s Jax?” He shouted the orders even though they can hear perfectly. Most likely due to him becoming worried with how dangerous the area is.

“Not sure, Commander! He must have gone off to defuse the other bombs!” Shepard paused for a second and looked straight at the Lieutenant. He was just as afraid for Jax as he is. He knows he couldn’t put the blame on him. He will have to give Jax a long lecture later. As soon as Kaidan finishes with defusing the first bomb they move up and around. Crippling the enemies’ strength with each shot and advancing to the next bomb.

They come up to the next explosive Kaidan is surprised to find it has been deactivated. A tinkering sound can be heard a little down the thin area to the next bomb. Jax is there and trying his best to quickly deactivate the bomb. One of the Geth troopers moves in and turns its attention to Jax. Both the Commander and Gunnery Chief unleash a hail of shots at that one specific Geth. Jax finishes with the defusing procedure and when he’s done a pair of hands picks him up and pushes him against a wall.

“What the hell are you thinking?!” Jax flinches slightly, but responds be pushing Shepard away. Shepard motions for Williams and Alenko to advance, but stays with Jax. “Do you want to die?!”

“Now is not the time, Shepard!” His voice was different. More commanding like Shepard, but with anger. The last Geth is destroyed the Lieutenant and so the coast is clear, but there are still the bombs. Once the rest of the bombs are deactivated came the thing that Jax hated. A lecture.

“Jax, you shouldn’t have run off like that.” Ashley speaks to Jax privately before Shepard and Kaidan regroup with them. He looks down and nods.

“Would you believe me if I said I don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“Why I just went. It just… happened.” Meanwhile the Commander and Lieutenant have another conversation.

“Why would he be so stupid? He knows to stay close.”

“He’s just trying to make sure we’re safe.”

“Why? We’re all trained for this. He isn’t.”

“Because of what happened to Jenkins.” The Commander was about to start an argument, but he knows better than to argue with the drastic measures someone would do to keep people safe. He knows because of Akuze. Instead of saying anything he just sighs and continues walking. “We can both talk to him later. Maybe with Anderson and Dr. Chakwas.”

Once regrouped they all look at each other. It was mainly between Ashley and Kaidan that gave off an awkward feeling since they expected Shepard and Jax to start an argument. Neither of them spoke to each other. Instead the strike team just continued to finish their mission. Shooting down the remaining abominations and synthetics to get to the beacon. Each one of them gives a sigh of relief since there isn’t any more fighting and the beacon is finally secure.

“Commander, if I may speak freely?”

“Hm?” Shepard’s attention was turned towards Ashley right then. She wasn’t sure about what she will do next in the Alliance and asks what her will happen. He didn’t really give an answer. At the same time Kaidan and Jax walk towards the beacon and speak about it.

“I’ve never seen anything like this…”

“I haven’t even seen that Citadel that you told me about.”

“You’ll see it soo-” A strong tug takes Kaidan slowly towards the beacon, but Jax gets the opposite effect. He quickly yells out his name to alarm the others. When Jax recovers and gets his feet planted back on the ground to help Kaidan he sees Shepard run at full speed towards him. The Commander grabs the Lieutenant with both arms and throws him to the side. He saved the Lieutenant, but when he tried turning away to save himself he was lifted up into the air. Ashley held Jax back and then Kaidan had to help because he started using his biotic to get an edge. Before anything else happened the beacon exploded and Shepard fell to the ground. The Eden Prime mission had failed.


	9. Chapter 9

 Moving Along

Death, war, and destruction that is all he sees. Shepard’s mind is flooded with images with those descriptions. His body has shut down with only his mind working to its limit. Kaidan carried him as single handedly as the group enters the Normandy. Right away Kaidan heads to the med bay.

“Jax!” Anderson’s voice booms throughout the cargo bay. The biotic flinches at the commanding tone. “What’s going on? Where’s Nihlus? What happened to be beacon?” He pauses for a second as he notices Ashley. “Where’s Jenkins?”

“Dead. They’re both dead.” The whole bay is silent. It may just be the whole situation, but more likely by the way Jax addressed it.

“What happened? Tell me everything from the point you got off.” Jax started to give his first mission debrief. He gave all the key points that happened. Jenkins. Ashley. Nihlus and Saren. The bombs. Then finally the beacon.  It was almost too perfect of a mission gone wrong to be true. However it was.

“… then the beacon exploded. Self-destruct by my guess though not sure why. Kaidan carried Shepard all the way to the med bay.” Jax fidgets in his seat. The whole time he’s been talking they moved up to the mess hall. “That’s it.”

“Saren… I know him. If he actually had a part in this then that would explain it, however…” Kaidan comes out of the med with Shepard’s armor neatly stacked. He pauses for a second and looks back though the door before it closes fully.

“Alenko, Shepard’s locker is right around the corner.”

“I know.” He moves to the locker and puts the Commander’s equipment inside. Everyone watches him as he does everything with a worried look.

“How is he?”

“Dr. Chakwas says he’s fine. Just unconscious.”

“That’s good.”

“I guess this is the time to say ‘Thank the Maker’.” Ashley gives a little joke to Jax and its quiet enough that no one else hears. It makes him smile, but questions where that religion originated from. He slowly gets up and walks in to see Shepard. Ashley and Kaidan stay with Anderson because they also need to be debriefed as well.

“Need any help Dr. Chakwas?”

“No I’m fine.” She turns around from the terminal screen on her desk and sees the teenager’s face. His eyes show he feels responsible for everything. Anyone can see that. Being a doctor Karin knows the best remedy for Jax’s condition would be to allow him to do as he wishes. “Actually I need to do a bit of stock checking and data analyses. Would you mind keeping an eye on Shepard?” He hesitated, but nodded. He sits next to the Commander and grips his jeans tightly.

A few hours pass and the Normandy has gone silent again. Jenkins’ death struck the crew hard, but they all kept their heads held high. Joker did his usual poking around and heard Ash’s and Kaidan’s conversation.

The biotic was drowning himself in coffee. He had a spare next to him, but it was different. He was also still in his armor. Ashley was welcomed abroad the Normandy and was to stay. She got comfortable by taking up a quarter of the mess hall table to clean her guns. Nobody else minded because that’s also what Shepard does occasionally.

“It’s not your fault, Lt.” Kaidan ruffles his hair, however it returns to its usual gel look-like state, and he starts shifting around in his seat.

“If I didn’t go up to that stupid beacon then Shepard… I was careless.”

“You didn’t know that would happen.”

“And it’s because of-” Ashley takes the end of her rifle and smacks it on Kaidan’s head. “Ow! What was that for?!”

“Stop complaining. We knew it was Prothean tech, but had no idea what it would do. The Commander saved you and he’s fine. He’ll be up in a bit so stop being a big downer.” Kaidan lefts out a muffled grunt and went back to sulking in his seat. Swishing his coffee back and forth waiting for the time to go by. When another dreadful hour passes the door to the med bay opens. Ashley turns her head while Kaidan stands right to attention; however it’s only Jax who comes out. He cracks his back and neck which is obviously from sitting still all these hours.

“Hey.” He speaks while giving a lazy wave and moving to an empty seat.

“Hi, Jax. How’s Shepard?” Ash says the question that Alenko is unable to say oddly enough.

“Still unconscious. He’s completely fine except…”

“What? Is something wrong? What is it?”

“Easy Kaidan! Just some brain activity. Probably having a bad dream that’s all.”

“Oh…” Jax eases down in the more comfortable chair and spots the cold coffee. He takes it and notices it’s still full. “Who’s is this?”

“Mine…”

“Can I have it? I don’t exactly remember the taste of coffee.”

“Y-Ya. Sure. Go ahead.” The young biotic eyes the light brown liquid for a few seconds before taking a sip. Before long it’s finishes. With upper lip dripping he licks away the taste and smiles widely.

“I never thought cinnamon could taste so good!”

“I… so you remembered something?”

“Not exactly, but my tongue does. Hm…”

“What?”

“No whip cream?” Jax chuckles a bit while Kaidan’s face is very confused. Ashley looks towards the Lt and catches his expression. He was questioning something and it was big. “I’m joking of course. Anyway I’m heading back in to help Dr. Chakwas. Hopefully Shepard wakes up soon.” With Jax now feeling uplifted he went back in. Jax has been tinkering with his Omni tool and continued to do so along with a few other activities to improve himself.

“Hey, Kaidan. Mind me asking about Jax?”

“Uh sure. What about?”

“Why a kid is on possibly one of the most advanced ships in the Alliance?”

“Well… it’ll pass the time so I’ll just start from the beginning…”

Fifth teen hour have pass by in total since the Commander was knocked out. His terrible nightmare was over now. Jax feel asleep on the medical bed next to Shepard’s. Kaidan finishes informing Ashley of how Jax came to join the Normandy and his misadventures so far. It was suppose to be a little serious, but near the end it just turned into a bit of a humorous tale. Even Joker was chuckling who was still eavesdropping. Secretly behind him was Anderson who stood there. He also had a smile on his face. Jax may still be new, but he quickly blended into the crew like no other.

“That’s that. It’s really funny to watch an ‘old dog’ learn new tricks. I’ll probably tell you the laundry incident for another time.”

“Before you had this look like you saw a ghost. What was that about?”

“Oh that! The coffee was an apology for Shepard, but it ended up getting cold. Jax acted just like Shepard though! He even did his ‘No whip cream’ joke.”

“Maybe he’s been hanging around him for a bit too long.”

“The thing is he’s been with engineering or Dr. Chakwas. Not Shepard. I’m starting to think they’re either the same person or related.”

“Wouldn’t that be something?” Ashley and Kaidan have gained each other’s trust. They make a few more jokes about Jax and Shepard before deciding to see how they’re doing. They’re timing is perfect as Shepard starts moving. His eyes flutter and squint at the lights. The Commander moves himself into a sitting up position to adjust faster.

“You had us worried, Commander. How are you feeling?”

“Head is throbbing, but I’ll be fine.” He looks around and notices his surroundings. He even spots Williams and Alenko. “How long was I out?”

“About fifth teen hours. Something happened down there with the beacon, I think.”

“It’s my fault.” Everyone looks at Kaidan now. He flinches for a second and even sees Ashley’s intimidating glare. “I must have triggered some sort of defense mechanism. You ended up pulling me out, Commander.”

“You had no way of knowing what would happen, Kaidan.” Shepard’s words reassured the biotic of it not being his fault. A smile tried taking place on his face, but was concealed.

“Unfortunately that may not have even been the case. Then again we will never be able to find out.”

“The beacon exploded. System overload, most likely. After the blast knocked you cold Lt here carried you all the way to the ship.”

“Is that true?”

“Well I… we all were worried, but uh… everything just happened so fast…”

“Kaidan…”

“Yes, Commander?”

“I appreciate it.” Shepard gives a heartwarming smile to his lieutenant. Kaidan nodded and returned a smile as well. Although the red in his cheeks was a little difficult to hide so he just improvised and used his Omni tool to bring up anything.

“Jax comprised a status report of your condition.” She points over to him on the other bed sleeping.

“A status report? How long was he in charge of taking care of me?” Shepard was slightly doubting the teenager after his stunt back on Eden, but it quickly changed when two data pads landed on his lap. Karin held a third.

“Just take a look.” She looks at the Commander as he looks at both data pads. Full detailed reports along that outlined Shepard’s condition and effects with the title being ‘From Hitting the Floor to Now’. He scoffs at it and tries to act annoyed, but the smirk on his face says otherwise. “According to Jax you are physically fine. From the blast at least. However, he reports abnormal brain activity and beta waves.”

“You really did train him to the best of your ability didn’t you?”

“I did and will still continue to do so. I didn’t teach him this though.” Shepard looks at her for a second before continuing to listen in silence. Shepard sometimes wondered why Jax wasn’t in his bunk during sleeping hours. Now he had a hint of what he’s been up too. “There appear to have been intense dreaming from a notice of rapid eye movement.”

“I… I’m not sure what I saw. Death? Destruction? Nothing is really clear.”

“Hm… I’ll add this to the report and- oh, Captain Anderson.”

“How’s out XO holding up, Doctor?”

“As far as I can see he’s perfectly fine.”

“Glad to hear. Now then, Shepard, I need to talk with you – in private.”

“Aye, aye, Captain. We’ll take Jax to a more appropriate place to sleep.” She nudges Kaidan on the shoulder and motions towards Jax. He rolls his eyes before picking the younger biotic up. The three of them start to head over to the sleeping quarters while Anderson speaks to the Commander.

“Believe it or not, but Jax is actually a lot lighter. He should probably get more in his meals.”

“You really care about him don’t you?”

“Well he is my first student.”

“Think he’ll learn anything to use in combat soon?”

“It comes to him naturally, but if he does it too soon he’ll risk burning himself out in the middle of everything.”

“Guess just more practice and breathing exercise for him.” The two of them bring Jax to his bed and tuck him in. The sight almost makes it look like they’re his parents. As they make their way out both of them bump into Shepard. Anderson has already started making his way up to the CIC.

“Hey, Kaidan, Ash.”

“Glad you’re ok, Commander. The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins.”

“Jenkins was a valuable part of this crew.” Despite being previously angry at Jenkins he felt bad that he was feeling that way towards him. He doesn’t know if he’s being honest or just saying what others are thinking.

“Part of me feels guilty over what happened. If Jenkins was still alive, I might not be here.”

“You’re a good soldier, Williams. You belong on the Normandy.” Shepard and Ashley continue talking about the previous mission. Kaidan stands there slightly awkwardly as if waiting for something to be said to him. Then it came. After Shepard had comforted Ash about her squad’s death and welcomed her to the Normandy he goes towards the idle biotic. Ashley went into the elevator to head down to her locker and recheck her equipment. For probably the fifth time.

“Kaidan, I just wanted to thank you for bringing to the med bay.”

“It’s not a problem, Commander. I’m sure anyone on the ship would do the same.”

“Still I’m impressed you actually managed to carry me. Must have gotten stronger, right?” Shepard’s and Kaidan’s bodies twitch throughout the conversation. Practically the whole crew, along with Joker, are watching because they have seen the sparks between the two. Now anytime Kaidan and Shepard are together it’s like a soap opera.

“I uh… maybe, Commander. I have been exercising a lot more recently.”

“Right. Me too.” Torture. That is how this conversation is going. The two men just make uneasy motions and poor communication while those watching want something more to happen.

“So, you’re good on equipment right? Jax must have found some new pistols.”

“He mentioned he found something I might like, but never got the chance to see what it is.”

“Ok. So how are you doing?”

“Ya beside this small migraine.”

“From your implant? Do you need anything?”

“Relax, Shepard, It’ll go away sooner or later.”

“Ok just tell me if you need anything.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll live.”

“Right. Ok. I should go.” The end of another Normandy Love Boat episode. The crew is left disappointed and quickly return to work. The Commander heads up to the CIC to give Joker Ander’s orders.

~/~

The Citadel

A small rumble goes through the ship. In his bed Jax somehow manages to fall out and hit his head on the floor. He groans while rubbing his bruised temple and walks out into the hallway. That’s when he realizes something. The Normandy didn’t have its odd spacey feeling. It was completely still. This meant that it docked somewhere. The teen rushes upstairs and sees the CIC half empty. Only a few crewmen and Joker remain.

“Jeff, where is everyone?” Joker turns around with a raised eye brow. “Fine! Joker, where-is-everyone?” Jax spoke with his teeth showing and grinding. Not sure what effect that would have besides showing he was annoyed.

“Left. We’re at the Citadel and all. I think they have to meet with Udina.”

“With a name like that he’s bound to be trouble.”

“He’s a politician.”

“Well he’s probably going to be a prick.”

“He’s also Earth’s ambassador.”

“It just keeps getting _better_! So they all left to where?”

“To see the Coun- hey… you’re trying to squeeze information out of me to go and follow them aren’t you?”

“What? Me? I would never.” Joker crosses his arms and continues to give him the raised eyebrow treatment. “I just want to explore a little. I’ll be gone for twenty minutes. Thirty at tops.”

“What about me?”

“Huh?”

“I’m cooped up all day and I don’t get any time out.”

“F-F-F-Fine… get up you darn cripple.” Jax tugs at Joker’s shirt since his arms would practically break off if he grabbed those. He ended up pulling a bit too hard and Joker smacked right into them. They both recoiled and grabbed the nearest thing to regain their balance.

“Hey! Respect your elders.”

“Shut up, flyboy.” Technically Jax would be the elder.

After a bit of walking and throwing insults and comebacks they two unlikely characters make it down to Citadel Security also known as C-Sec. There people of all races come and go. Joker takes this time to be a personal tour guide. He pointed out Salarians and Asari to Jax. He makes it seem like Jax didn’t spend all those nights studying other species from his Omni tool codex. While the kid thought of Joker as a cool guide of the Citadel he kind of wanted to ditch him and go exploring. If he knew what would happen next they both would have just decided to stay in the Normandy. Well Joker at least.

~/~

The Lieutenant watched as everyone argued back and forth. The council was on Saren’s side which left Shepard and Anderson in the dust. He didn’t care much for Udina since he never liked politicians. Shepard spoke loud to get the Council’s attention, but that did nothing. Saren managed to develop extremely believable lies. Some he might even fall for.

“You already made your decision. I won’t waste my breath.” The Commander has given up with trying to reason with the council. Overall it was a disaster. Udina and Anderson speak about trying to expose Saren, which makes the Lieutenant speak up.

“What about Garrus, that C-Sec investigator? He was arguing with the executor.”

“That’s right! He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seemed like he had something on Saren.” Ash and Kaidan gives a thumbs up to each other when the Commander goes with that info and asks Udina some information. Of course Anderson disapproves the idea because Udina’s contact in C-Sec is Harkin, a known drunk. Just like that he decides to leave Shepard with the investigation and cuts Anderson out.

The ambassador leaves to go to his office while the Captain and Commander go over a few more details. Kaidan’s head starts to feel an intense pressure so he stops with the politics and heads over to the fountains. Ashley also goes with him since the conversation seemed to go on for a little longer.

“Feeling alright, Lt?”

“Just a migraine.”

“Oh right, you said something about your biotics giving you that sometimes.”

“Actually I think it’s from the politics this time.”

“Oh…” He leans on the railing and stares at the fountains with a slight smirk.

“Reminds me of some fountains back home. Never really know what you miss until it’s gone, right?”

“Stayed in a nice place?”

“Vancouver.”

“Ah… isn’t it raining a lot there?”

“You get used to it.” He stands up and rubs his face. He’s had a lack of sleep lately and staring at calming waters isn’t helping much. Shepard finally parts ways with Anderson and motions for them to follow. They have a task and it’s not going to be simple. Expose the Spectre Saren and convince the Council of the Reaper threat.


	10. Chapter 10

Unlikely Likeness

“Can you please explain to me _why_ we are following a Krogan that can, oh let’s say, break every possible bone in my body and more?” Jax turned around in the dark alley. His face completely void of any emotion. Possibly he was annoyed by Joker's pestering. It also made the pilot slightly scared.

“You can still go back to the ship. This is what? Your fifth offer?”

“I’m not leaving you all alone! Besides, you may need some help. This is a dangerous place.”

“My _hero_.” Jeff scoffed at the comment. When the teen turned to look around the corner he came in contact with maroon colored armor. For a second he stared at it before looking up. A Krogan with an angry snarl was right in front of him. He yelped and fell backwards. Onto Joker. There was also a cracking sound following by a loud grunt of pain. He’s grabbed his shirt collar and lifted into the air. Before being slamming into the wall.

“Who are you?! Did Fist send you?!” If was difficult to tell if those were questions or commands.

“Who?” A loud thud echoes in the alley. Jax’s head throbs along with his spine. The thought of the whole idea of ‘Following the alien who threatened the police because somehow Shepard might get involved’ was starting to look like a mistake.

“Fist! Why else would you be following me?!” Still confusing between questions or commands. Finally Jax decides to use his biotics. The light blue glow illuminates the alley. Pressing his feet against the wall he manages to throw the Krogan off balance, but he’s also a biotic. Another slam goes through the alley. Jax finds himself on the ground this time with a shotgun in his face.

“I’m not with any Fist guy, you damn brute!” He snarl makes his teeth show. The teen gives a slight sigh and speaks. “I was hoping you may get tied up with… my commander.” He shivers on the inside. The feeling he experienced was something like him actually being a soldier.

“Commander? You’re just a kid human.”

“No really? I must have forgotten to put on makeup because I’m actually a _girl_ too.” The Krogan stepped back. Confused. Joker was still groaning around and clenching onto his chest.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s a toothpick. Blow on him and he’ll fall like a tower of cards.” Hands move over the flight lieutenant to check for damage. As far as he can tell Joker may have fractured his forearm, but he’s fine. Still a scan would be nice.

“I’m right here you know!”

“Hey, big guy, know any clinics around here?”

“There is one close to here.” The biotic lifts Joker with his arm over his shoulders. He doesn’t have the strength to support to adult by himself.

“Help?” The mercenary was already walking away. He turns around and ponders for a second. When Jax realizes he most likely isn’t going to help he starts to walk away. An in pained Joker sluggishly following along. Suddenly the lift feels lighter as he notices the brute came to help. “Thanks, the names Jax.” He sniffs before nodding.

“Wrex. You are a strange human.”

“I know.”

~/~

Shepard walks out of Barla Von’s office. Information leading to more information to finally people who can benefit him. If he kept at this investigation he could solve the case. His mind stops for a second and a thought crosses his mind. _I’ve always wanted to be a detective._ Silly, Childish, yet cliché all at the same time. It brought a smile to his face. Probably his first smile after the whole blow out with the Council and Udina’s outrage fit. He sees Alenko and Williams leaning over the railing. Relaxing, but also ready to move at a moment’s notice.

“We’re done here.” Shepard has an obvious smile. Kaidan and Ash both make a slight joke before nodding back to the Commander. Before long the group is standing in a very long elevator going towards C-Sec. The elevator music doesn’t help in those situations.

“So, Ash, what do you think of the Normandy crew so far?” Kaidan tries to make friendly conversation. Elevators have always been like this. Especially the one in the ship. However, the Citadel elevators were different in more ways than one.

“Everyone is really nice. There is also…” Her voice trails off as she passes into thought about something specific.

“Huh?”

“Oh nothing. Just something Joker said.” The two men tense up. Joker has dirt on everyone. His favorite was the Shepard-Alenko brand. Shepard does his best to remain a statue and not move. Kaidan’s face begins to turn a faint red.

“Like what?” The Lieutenant’s voice was slightly higher and cracked a little. His face was going to melt from the heat as he tried to think specifically of what Joker told Ash.

“Something about not going out in the dark.” Ashley sees the two men squirm slightly and wonders what exactly could have happened. All that was needed to be said about elevators was that they were going to be a terrible burden the Normandy crew was going to have to deal with.

~/~

“Is there a doctor in the house?” The biotic should loud into the clinic and he and Wrex shuffle in with a groaning Joker. He spots the doctor along with a Turian hiding behind cover with a pistol drawn. He bit his lip and hoped for the next words to be kind and friendly.

"Who the hell are you?!" A man yells out loud while grabbing the doctor as a hostage. Not kind _or_ friendly at all. Though the visor he wore was interesting. Like he wanted it.

"You know. Just some random customers looking for some medical assistance." He points to the crippled man as if showing a grand prize. It seems as though Jax managed to confuse every hostile figure today as the man holding the hostage raised an eyebrow to them. He opens his mouth to speak, but the Turian, who was cladded in blue armor, moved swiftly. Quickly weaving around the corner and shooting the hostage taker right in his head. Jax swore under his breath and they all went into cover.

The clinic was lit up with beams going back and forth. Wrex sprays his shotgun while the Turian takes careful precise shots. Wrex unleashes load after load of shotgun sprays. Joker leans against the wall and grunts softly to himself while Jax sits next to him. The Krogan pushed the teenager to the side at the first sign of trouble. The small fight goes nowhere and a headache starts to develop in Jax’s head. Irritated he gets up abruptly and starts to walk towards the gunmen with a bright blue aura protecting him from the gunfire. He picks up a fire extinguisher and steps in front of the first gunman. He aims his gun at the biotic, but is stopped with a loud bang. He falls to the floor unconscious. The same happens to the second trigger happy gunner. Joker pops his out of cover and yells out loud.

“Did you just knock them out _with_ a fire extinguisher?” There was a rather large dent in the end of it. They more likely will be out for a while. Like until tomorrow. He tosses it to the side and stares at the pilot.

“Ya. So?” He just shrugged like it was nothing. Like it was just another job or task. He then takes the unconscious men’s weapons and credits. Just another job.

“Remind me never to piss you off.” He shivers at the thought of what Jax might do to him. He has kept his Vrolik Syndrome in mind so far at least. Another though comes to mind. It is to put alarms on any fire extinguishers on the Normandy.

“Never piss me off.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” Jax moves over to the leader who died first. Doing the same for the other two men and also examining the visor. A clean shot went though his head. Along with the visor. It was useless now.

“Good job with the distraction. I’m surprised you manage to confuse them.” The Turian walks up to Jax and extends his hand, but the teenager only narrows his eyes with a disapproving look.

“You could have shot the hostage. It was a dangerous move.”

“I never… I just… Dr. Michael, are you ok?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Thanks to all of you.” Garrus turns his attention to Jax’s companion. Surprised is what he is.

“Wrex?”

“Vakarian.” The two look at each other. Not exactly in the happy reunion kind of way though.

“I take it you two know each other.”

“Wrex has been stirring up trouble recently.”

“I’m just doing my job. You and the rest of your gang just get in my way.” The Turian scoffs at the remark. Everything starts to get tense so the teen brings Joker onto an examination bed and asks for Joker to be examined for any fractures or broken bones. She agrees and does it free of charge. As a gesture of thanks for saving her life. It was also needed to be kept secret.

“Why is a child running around in this part of the wards with a Krogan? Also that biotic power was unusual for some reason. Care to explain?” The Turian digs at Jax for information. Most likely out of curiosity, but he complies by responding.

“Name.”

“Pardon?”

“Your name.”

“Oh. Garrus Vakarian.” This time Jax extends his hand as a greeting gesture. Garrus accepts and shakes his hand.

“Jax.”

“Just ‘Jax’?” He shrugs in response. Garrus just nods and doesn’t press forward. With everything out of the way the young biotic turns his attention to the doctor and begins to speak, but it cut short by the door opening. Shepard and his team walk in suddenly and with perfect timing. Noticing Jax first followed by the bullet holes in the walls.

“Jax?” Shepard speaks with a hint of being surprised, but it quickly focuses towards anger. Even though he hadn’t defied anymore orders he was still mad. He was mad because he had endangered himself _again_.

“I can explain, Shepard.” He hold his hands up close to where his shoulders. He has a wry smirk on his face that makes him seem slightly more innocent. Before any more words can be exchanged Garrus moves in to defuse the situation.

“Commander Shepard, I see we meet again. Jax is very capable in tough situations. He helped me resume Dr. Michael.” The two shake hands. That’s when the Commander notices the Krogan with the two men tied up.

“They’re alive?”

“Yes. Jax managed to knock two of them unconscious with… blunt force.” The Turian’s mandibles twitched right then. He was still unsure of what to make of a teenager using a fire extinguisher to knock out fully grown men. It was humorous, but still very out of place. Anyone else would have just shot the gunmen down. In the back Joker sits up right and gets a full view of everything.

“Hey! We found you!” He’s slightly off from the administered medicine the doctor gave him. While it helps with the pain and recovery of his weakened bones the side effect is that it makes him slightly out of character. The loopy kind.

“Joker? What are you doing here?” Kaidan spoke out loud. Slightly worried for his friend and the fact of how he was out an about instead of the Normandy’s safe seat that is practically his home.

“Oh… you know. Breaking bones and fighting crime! Fun stuff!” His speech slurs slightly. It seems the best way to describe Joker’s condition is him being drunk. Kaidan has a thought, but keeps it to himself. Dr. Michael scans the loopy pilot with her Omni tool. She covers her mouth in slight shock after realizing her mistake.

“I made a miscalculation with his treatment. He’ll be fine, but in the mean time he should remain here to prevent further injuries.” She’s embarrassed. Though it is hardly her fault. Dr. Michael was just a hostage and had a gun fight in her clinic. Joker blabbers on about how the recent events occurred with only _minor_ alterations. Everyone just stares at him until he mentions how Jax knocked the men out with the extinguisher. Jax glances over to where he threw the extinguisher before turning his attention to everyone watching him.

“You knocked two armed men unconscious _with_ a fire extinguisher?” Shepard had his hand scratching his head. Trying to imagine the event like a movie scene. Kaidan just nodded and gave thumbs up. Ashley, however, was just confused as to of why.

“He sure did. Knocked them both out with one hit. Pretty good for a youngling.” Wrex spoke out. He is getting praised by a Krogan. The feeling that swirls around in him is embarrassment and pride. More or less just wanting to get on with the next event in the day

~/~

“So here’s what we have. Wrex was hired by the Shadow Broker, who was betrayed by Saren and Fist, to kill Fist. Garrus is looking into Saren due to suspicion about his overall Specter status and his actions led him to Dr. Michael. The thugs that were harassing here were also from Fist. While Fist does seem like someone who should, or eventually would, be hunted by Wrex there is also the matter of the Quarian. We need more information if we are to end this investigation.” Jax has kept all the information cataloged in his Omni tool with all the information he’s been gathering. A codex of a type is what he’s doing. The mission information that he records is also connected to the Commander, Lieutenant, and Gunnery Chief. “Once Fist, I still hate that name, is dealt with we will either have another lead or more information on Saren. Maybe both or none at all.”

“Impressive.” The Turian’s comment makes Jax smiles. He has been working hard and is glad to see someone take notice.

“Thank you, Garrus! Do you know how arrogant people are that you can’t get a single compliment?”

“Hey!” Shepard speaks out loud as if the comment was directed towards him. Jax just rolls his eyes and tilts his head slightly towards him.

“Not everything is about _you_ , Shepard.”

“Still. It was rude. True, but rude.”

“Are lectures part of my training now?” The Commander crosses his arms and gives his usual stance that goes with it. This was taking longer than it should with finding evidence on Saren. The more time passed the more the Commander got an itch to hurry up on the mission. Almost as if he had an internal timer. Williams and Alenko gave a smirk to the sight as they defiantly began to see a type of ‘brotherly’ bond forming. They found it entertaining.

“Fine then. Everyone with me. We’re going over to Chora’s Den.” Everyone just looked the Commander, then back to each other. It was a quick process as everyone looked at each other and finally all eyes back to Shepard. They thought he was talking some foreign language or something. “What?”

“Commander, if I may, shouldn’t you take a small group, mostly comprised of three people, instead of…” Ashley was speaking and her voice trails off as she looked around. From Kaidan to Wrex then Garrus. “…everyone?”

“Does anyone want to stay behind in this clinic waiting for Joker to wake up?” No one replied with words or motions. The Commander clapped his hands and gave a round up gesture. Turning on his heels he began to exit the door with his companions following. “By the way, Jax, you’re staying here to look after Joker.”

Before Jax could get the chance to speak out and demand to go along, or just go along anyway, the door closed on him. The Commander just made his way casually towards Fist’s domain and something surprising happens half way to it. Jax sent him a message to his Omni tool. Long and slightly hateful. Only _slightly_. Still he decided to read it aloud. It was how Jax was fine with hanging out with a somewhat docile Joker. Also how Shepard should watch himself as this will bite him back. The rest is just sarcastic remarks and additional information of the current task at hand.

“That kid has quite the attitude.”

“That, Wrex, is an understatement.”

~/~

Almost to Chora’s Den another message arrived to the Commander’s Omni tool. He read it to himself silently. There was only one line and it made a weight drop in him. He is able to focus on any fighting he may encounter when it starts, but in the pass time there was an itch to find out what Jax’s message could lead to. One sentence was all that was needed to do this.

_I hacked Joker’s Omni tool._


	11. Chapter 11

Shifty Introduction

Time passed in the clinic very slowly. It weighed on the young teenager’s spirit like an elephant dart to the face. Dr. Michelle was busy reorganizing her clinic along with cleaning up the thugs, who were eventually taken away when C-Sec finally arrived. They just left the case as a failed robbery attempt since the explanation with the fire extinguisher was _far_ from believable.

He simply sits next to Joker, who passed out, and thoroughly goes through his Omni-tool. He skims around the personal data and reads bits and pieces of his diary. Though in the beginning he constantly insists that it is just a journal for his boredom. He talks about his time when he was training for becoming a pilot. Silently Jax said ‘Aww…’ to himself after learning the Joker was the underdog in his class.

Going forward to present time he makes constant notes of Shepard and Alenko. Sometimes referring to them as something else. Their last names merged together to make the word ‘Shenko’.  An incident sparks the interest of Jax. Very little detail, but something did happen. Mainly having to do with the showers. Jax managed to stay out of Joker’s bookmarks and extranet history on the side note. Some things are better left in the dark. Or until blackmail is needed.

“I’m going.” He gets off from Joker’s bed and stretches his aching back. Dr. Michelle comes up to him with a worried look. He sighs out loud and looks straight at her. He doesn’t give an intimidating presence. Just an understanding one. “You don’t want me to go do you?”

“It’s just… dangerous…” She knows exactly what the biotic is doing. He nodded and agreed with her. It will most likely be dangerous. He just learned more that there was a person who is called a Shadow Broker after all. Then again he did knock out armed thugs with an extinguisher not too long ago.

“I’ll be fine, but just one thing.” Joker mumbles in his sleep and the word cheese can be heard. Jax smiles softly before flicking the man on the head. Nothing. “When will this idiot wake up?”

“Unsure. The dosage I gave him seems to have worn off slightly, but he is experiencing the after effects. He may be a sleep for awhile.” While she was speaking Jax had gathered a few items he took from the thugs and prepares himself as if going straight into a fight. Probably was. No armor or shields so he had to rely heavily on his biotic barrier for protection.

“I’m going to find the Quarian then.”

“But you don’t know where to look. Wouldn’t it be better to wait for the Commander and Garrus to return?”

“Probably, but don’t like sitting around. Besides it might be fun. Like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A very big haystack made of metal that is floating around in space.” He pauses for a second. Thoughts pass through him. _Suddenly staying here doesn’t sound so bad._ “I’ll be back!” He waves to the doctor and exits the clinic. Grabbing a few bits of emergency medi-gel on the way out. Immediately taking a right, getting lost, back tracking, and heading left of the clinic. The sight is like watching a child wander around aimlessly in a mall.

~/~

Shepard and his group walk into Chora’s Den. After having been attacked they were ready. Except for the fact that there was minimal space for three humans, a Turian, and a Krogan. Kaidan and Wrex held the front. Shepard, Ash, and Garrus used their snipers from the door entrance. Alternating between each shot to avoid overheating their guns. One by one the targets fall and hit the ground with a satisfying thud.

“Everyone ok?” Shepard didn’t need to ask the question really. His Omni tool can give everyone’s shield and health stats with one glance. His companions all nodded and so they spread out in the room. Guns still aimed in case of another hostile.

“Stop right there! Don’t come any closer!” There are shouts coming from the far end of the room. The Lieutenant and Garrus have their weapons aimed at some workers. Obviously not soldiers from their clothing and weapons. The Commander rushes over with his assault rifle ready. Upon entering the standoff he sighs deeply and lowers his gun.

“Warehouse workers. The real guards must be dead.”

“Stay back or we’ll shoot.” The Commander rubs the bridge of his nose due to a buildup of stress from this mission. The thought of shooting the men would make things simple, but the thought of killing those who have no real intentions of defending Fist does bother him.

“This would be a good time to find somewhere else to work.” Everyone looks at the Commander. Kaidan feels that Jax is the one rubbing off on him now and so he lowers his weapon. In hopes that the sentences does work on the workers. They look at each other before throwing their pistols on the floor and walking out. Making some remarks about Fist as they leave. Just like that there was no violence.

“It would’ve been easier if we just killed them.” The mercenary makes his comment. To which makes the Commander glad he did the right thing.

“Shooting people isn’t always the answer.” Ashley responds to Wrex. It seems as though this party banter will be a common thing.

As the group moves further in on Fist they stumble into a surprise. Alenko went into Fist’s place first and was shot down immediately by two turrets. His armor protected him, but he still took heavy damage. Shepard went in and dragged him out.

“Alenko, you alright?” Everyone else goes into firefight for Fist. The Commander and Lieutenant are outside the door. Though Kaidan is slightly embarrassed and his face is turning a slight pink.

“Ya. I’m fine. Just got caught off guard.” The Commander does a quick check of Alenko to find that his armor took most of the damage. Just a graze here and there. He’ll live. The thought crosses his mind that Jax is the only one really specialized as the team’s field medic. Everyone else just knows how to apply medi-gel and get back into fighting. Two explosions echo out of the room. They’re followed by a heavy thud. Fist is down.

~/~

After wandering around a bit and getting stopped by C-Sec a few times Jax simply started to head back to Dr. Michelle’s clinic. He met a few people who were in need of help and decided to log their problems for the Commander. There was a man who requested his wife’s body be returned. Along with a reporter hoping to gain information on Fist. There was also a sketchy Asari who went on about someone, but Jax simply left her in the middle of the conversation. Then there was the Asari Consort, Sha’ira. Who really just made the biotic feel awkward and hoped to be done with the request. He managed to do all of this in about a few minutes. Not including time in the elevators.

“Ugh! This place is just one giant city Labyrinth!” Jax looks around to find he has gotten lost. In some alley. He simply shrugs and continues walking. That’s when he sees her. The Quarian. Dressed in purple and surrounded by unknown figures. She paces alone, and distance, from the rest.

“Where is the Shadow Broker?” Her voice comes from a mask that gives her a very distinctive accent. The Turian comes up to her and tells her to relax. He goes as far as caressing her arm. She bats him away instantly. Jax sticks to the shadows and tries to develop a plan. Outnumbered and outmanned. He was at a disadvantage. Digging into his pockets he recounts his equipment. Two small cases of emergency medi-gel, four grenades, and a standard heavy pistol. Silently he curses to himself. He could leave and get Shepard, but what guarantees that the Quarian will be present upon his return. If she is even alive when he comes back. _The risk is too high. We need her alive_. The thought echoes in his mind. Is he channeling Shepard now?

“Ho, there!” Jax emerges from the shadows. He had his hoodie on so it gives him a more mischievous appeal. “I believe you called for a Shadow Broker?” They all raise their guns. All except the Shadow Broker. The fake Shadow Broker cocks his head to the side and shrugs. “That’s a little rude. Wouldn’t you say, madam?”

“How do we know you’re really the Shadow Broker?”

“How else would I have known about this little… arrangement? Now please come with me. We have business to discuss.” She steps forward, but is quickly grabbed by the Turian. He aims his weapon straight at the Quarian’s head. _Damn bloody bastard! That is just low!_ In response she elbows him in the stomach and leaps away. Throwing a grenade in the process. A window is open and Jax takes it.

He dashes forward and throws all his grenades at the thugs. Each attaching to at least one enemy. Jax grabs the Quarian and pulls her behind cover before detonating the explosives. As a precaution he shields her with his biotics. Though after the endeavor she punches him in the face. A few of the assassins managed to survive the explosion and shoot. Jax throws them all against the wall with a massive biotic throw. When the assassins hit the ground the Quarian aims a pistol at Jax. He sighs deeply.

“Who are you?”

“That’s not a very nice way to introduce yourself.” He gets pistol whipped across the head. A loud groan escapes him and he rethinks his witty one liners. Deciding to answer her questions for less damage. “My name is Jax, I’m with Commander Shepard. We’re trying to expose Saren.”

“Really? Then where is Commander Shepard?”

“With him he should be here in a few minutes.” She grows cautious of Jax again. Still not letting her guard down. He throws his hands in the air and sits down on the nearest crate. The Quarian still has her pistol trained on the kid. He simply ignored, or tried to, her and opened up his Omni-tool to a holographic chess game. White was in trouble. Only six moves until checkmate and Jax was doing his best to prevent that. The opponent was set to expert.

“What are you doing?”

“Chess.”

“Aren’t you bothered by my gun aiming at your head?”

“Not really.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Now if you don’t mind I’m trying to beat this game. Not exactly in the best position right now.” Ironically he wasn’t in the best position out of the game either. The Quarian’s stance falters. She lowers her gun and studies the teenager’s face. Deep in concentration and thought. Unsure how to respond she leans forward and watches Jax play. Moving the pawns safely and using his rooks to lure the enemy away. Once he gains a new queen the game is set and in two moves he wins. Checkmate. “Wanna play?”

“Uh… sure.”

“Ok it’s simple. All you need to know is…”

~/~

“That’s all! I swear! I don’t know anything else.” The Commander stands at the side. He gives one final shove of his shotgun at Fist’s face before cocking his head to the side. Instructing Ashley to release the low life. She even wipes her hands as if he’s contagious. “I set up a deal with the Quarian to meet the Shadow Broker. My guys are waiting with here in the alley! Now can you please let me go?” He’s frantic and scared. Ashley literally beat the living snot out of his for having injured Alenko. That and he made a very bad remark when noting her taking cover. That led to Williams becoming enraged and becoming the strength of several Krogan. Even Shepard was afraid of her for a minute. Next thing everyone knows is that Wrex draws his shotgun and kills Fist. His body falls limp to the ground.

A standoff occurs between Williams and Wrex. She has her assault rifle in his face with obvious distrust of the mercenary. He just stares her down. The Commander gets in between them to yell at the two. Kaidan stands back and collects a few things. One of which being a case that has files on. _Maybe Jax will have some use for this._ He thinks to himself silently, but it is quickly disturbed by loud yelling. His ears ring and head throbs. A migraine is coming.

“Williams, do not aim your weapons at an ally ever again! Wrex, if you shoot another unarmed prisoner again I will personally take you down.” He scoffs at the Commander. Even throwing in an insult of how he wouldn’t be able to take down a Salarian. Tension is all around in the room. Eventually he finally gets back to the mission to find the Quarian. Since Fist’s men are with her he tells everyone to pick up the pace and head to the alley that Fist was talking about. Before his utter demise. The whole group gets outside and makes a sprint for it.

 When they all arrive to the alley everyone is baffled by the sight. Jax and the Quarian are sitting next to each other. Playing, as what it seems to be Connect Four, and laughing or giggling. When coming up close they notice the bodies of Fist’s men. Along with the explosive markings.

“Oh hey guys. Everyone this is Tali’Zorah nar Rayya. Did I get that right?” Tali nods to Jax who cheers for himself.

“Did you do this?” Shepard’s tone was loud and commanding. The teenager felt small and hunched forward. He nods in response. “I told you not to leave the clinic! You left Joker all alone!” Just like that the Jax's eyes light up and he stands tall again as if something suddenly triggered.

“He’s unconscious! What was I suppose to do? Sit by and twiddle my fingers? If I didn’t leave Tali would have just had less help with those assassins!” The two bickered and argued in front of everyone. Soon it just turned to how Jax is childish and inexperienced. The reverse was that Shepard was arrogant and blindsided. It most likely would have turned into a fist fight if Kaidan hadn’t intervened. Able to keep a level head he separates the two and restores  _some_ balance. Though shortly after Jax runs off from the group. Ashley chases after him.

“What is with you?” Kaidan is with his Commander alone from everyone else now. Garrus is talking to Tali about Saren. Shepard paces and gives some motions with his hands. Low mumbling can be heard.

“He’s a damn idiot. Can’t listen. Can’t sit still. Damn idiot.”

“Guess that’s just another thing you two have in common.” The remark just blurted out of the Lieutenant’s lips. He didn’t even mean to say it. It just happened.

“What are you talking about, I’m nothing like him!” Before being able to explain Shepard leaves and heads over to Garrus and Tali. Kaidan shakes his head as he is unsure who is rubbing off on whom more. The more he thinks about it the more it makes his migraine ache. Ash comes back with Jax, who is acting just like the Commander, and seems to be calming down. Though the two keep a certain distance from each other. It seems the mission will be a very long one indeed.


End file.
